countenance they make they in a manner woulde be content that ye had the worse bycause ye followed not thryr fantasie notwithstanding that I doubt not but that there is none of them but wyll serue you faythfully Arcalaus Oration to King Arauigne inducing him to make war and to runne vpon King Lisuard and vpon Amadis in such suche places of theirs where they might be beste offended without succour and to make warre there where they be most letted and troubled In the .4 booke the .18 Chapter SYr a foure dayes past I certainely vnderstoode that King Lisuard and Amadis of Fraunce two the most greatest enimies that ye may haue are in such quarrell and strife that there is no hope that euer they shall haue peace together they gather greate companies of men to fighte and to giue battell whereof there cannot ensue and follow but the finall destruction of the one or other and peraduenture of both together And bicause the occasion doth nowe call you aswell to reuenge you of the losse that you haue had by them in times past as also to extende your limites borders making your selfe peaceable King of England I thinke ye should defer no longer to gather your people together and to call for all your friendes that whilest they be letted ye may easely enter into their countrey being far off from their aide and succour and if it chaunce that they méete together and fight then not gyuing the Uictor any leysure to refreshe his men ye must sodeâ—ly take him and geue him so sore a battell that neither of them both escape And ye shall vnderstand syr that the occasion of their enmitie doth procéede bicause that King Lisuard sent his eldest daughter to Rome giuyng hir in mariage to the Emperour but Amadis of Fraunce one of them that caused himselfe to be named in the battel that we lately lost the knight of the serpentes the which had if ye may remember it the gilded harneis with many other met the Romanes vpon the field whom they inuaded and finally destroyed and flew the Prince Salust Quide the Emperours nigh knisman the other taken prisoners with the Ladies and Damsels the which they haue caried and conueyed into the enclosed Iland where they retaine them as yet and yet I cannot well declare you the cause why they beganâ—e this warre but I am sure that King Lisuard to reuenge his iniurie prepareth the greatest armie that he can and that Amadis in like case hath sent into all partes to gather men to defende him if he be assayled And therefore Syr during this trouble ye shall haue if ye will a meane to giue them both the greatest ouerthrow of all the world taking them vnawares as I haue tolde you And to the end and intent that ye may at your eye know the victorie to be certaine I will doe so much that Bersimen Lord of Sanguese the sonne of him that the King caused to be burnt at London and likewise all those of the linage of Dardan the proude whom Amadis destroyde at Windesor shal come and helpe you with the King of the profounde and déepe I le and thus beyng with so great a number of good knightes ye shall not néede to doubte but that ye shall come to your intent and purpose King Arauignes answere to Arcalaus by the which he is purposed to follow his counsell In the .4 booke the .8 chapter My great friend quoth Arauignes ye tel me great things although that I had purposed not to tempt fortune any more shewing me so litle fauor in times past so it should be great fâ—lly as me thinketh to leaue those things which bâ— so many meanes offer themselues to augment my honour great profit for if in suche a case y enterprises guided by reason come to the issue that men desire he receiueth such fruit of his labor as he deserueth And if it chaunce otherwise meÌ„ at the least wayes do eâ—ecute the thing to the which vertue doth hind them to maintaine their authoritie the which ought not so greatly to esteme the misfortunes which are past that they when the houre presenteth it selfe shoulde delay to receiue it not losing their courage nor continuing all the rest of their life as fearefull faint hearted Seing therfore that I am in these termes I wil beleue you praying you whilest that I shall prepare my armie to order the rest to go to Barsinan and the other and to cause them to ioyne with vs. Agraies Oration to the knights of the inclosed Isle vpon the enterprise of the warre inciting them to shew themselues vertuous and strong in the businesse that doth offer it selfe In the fourth booke the .10 chapter MY lords I cannot tell how that we with honestie may delay to take vpon vs this warre seing the iust occasioÌ„ that we haue and that our enimie euen now maketh as though he would come to finde vs but yet who so wil beleue me he shall neither get nor obtaine the honor but yet let vs doe our diligence to assemble our strength and let vs go into his cuntrey and cause our selues to be knowne for such men as we be for once if we suffer them to come hyther we shal set theÌ„ in such a pride that he which of his nature is presumptuous shall thinke to haue already the vpper hand of vs and so we shal be in diuers maner of sorts yll estemed giuing occasion to many to doubt as much of our right as of my lady Orianes for whoÌ„ we are fallen into these matters As touching my selfe I sware vnto you vpon my honor that if it had not béen for the instant and great prayer and request that she made vnto me to haue peace I had neuer consented that they shoulde haue sente any Ambassadours into Englande béeyng so outrageously vsed as we be But feyng that our enimie doth declare so muche vnto vs I am quited of my promise and resolued neuer to enter into amitie or aliance with him vntill he hath felt howe greatly we may anoye him or helpe him séeing that we haue the wayes to recouer as warlikemen of warre as they be which he shall bryng with him Thus my maisters I am of this mind that we prepare our selues to war without any longer delaye and that we assone as our aide is aryued go straight to London if he come forwards to fight with vs to giue him battell Amadis Oration to Agraies vpon the resolution of the warre beyng readie to doe his duetie and to followe Agraies aduise In the .4 booke the .13 Chapter MY cousin I as yet haue séene none but that is ready to do that you haue said and if any haue â—ebated the inconueniences that may commonly chaunce in warre that is not yet to saye that they will exempt themselues but to prouide for the same as reason would they shoulde And as concerning that they thinke it good we shoulde enter into King Lisuardes land nor
to giue him leysure to come finde vs here I haue bene euer of this minde if the rest of you my Lordes and good friendes will the same for by this meanes he perceiuing that we aproche so nigh vnto him will chaunge pâ—raduenture his opinion and shall require vs to doe the thing that we in times past most humbly desired him The Oration of Guillan the pensife to the Emperor of Rome in the name of King Lisuard declaring vnto him the taking of his meÌ„ and of the lady Oriane that therâ—ore he is purposed to make warre against the knights of the Isle inclosed and that it would please him therefore to ayde him In the fourth booke the .13 Chapter SYr sayde Guillan King Lisuard my maister doth sende yâ—a word that for to haue your amitie and perpetuall aliance he was well content following the request that ye caused to be made vnto him by your Ambassadors to marrie the lady Oriane his eldest daughter and principall inherit or vnto you and in déede after many difficulties auoyded among the princes Lordes and subiectes of his Realme he deliuered her into the hands of those that haue power by you to receiue hirâ— but it chaunced that Amadis of Fraunce and other his mates with a certaine number of shippes spied them and in suche sort assailed theÌ„ in a straite that after they had â—ought a lonâ— space the Prince Salust Quide was slaine and all the rest of your men were ledde as prisoners into the inclosed Ilande where that as yet my lady Oriane is detained the Quéene Sardamire and other that were in this company But yet afteewardes thinking to pacifiâ— the faulte that they had done they sent Ambassadours to his Maiesâ—ie offering him many good partes and offers the which he woulde not receiue before he vnderstoode your wil and pleasure for as much as the iniurie that they haue done him doth touche you as much or more than him And therefore he hath commaunded me to shewe you that if ye be minded to take vengeance on them that he will bring a great armie into the fielde if ye of your part will doe the like being assured that if your strength be once ioyned you and he shall easely bring them to suche a point and reason as ye shall thinke good The Oration of King Lisuard to the Romanes setting before theyr eyes the great wrong done vnto theyr companions and that they shoulde therefore seeke to be reuenged against their enimyes and not to lease theyr courage in so iust a quarrell In the .4 booke the .19 Chapter MY masters and great friends ye haue sene and proued in these two méetings how that fortune hath shewed hir selfe our enimie in suche wise that in giuing vs the worsâ— shée hath triumphed by the death of my good brother the Emperour your maister and of many other valiant knightes the woyche in effect reuenging them vpon theyr â—nimyes woulde haue come to the thing that they become vnto â— bycause that this was the fayrest experience that they coulde doe by their vertue and strength to obtayne the glory whervnto they breathed And to come therevnto they thought it lesse than nothing to put their lyues in ioperdie and that it â—â—s muche better to dye valianâ—ly defending themselues than goyng backe to escape And bycause they woulde fall into no suche dishonour and shame they had rathâ—r throughe great magnanimitie of courage to endure and suffer fortune than to obey feare not bicause I wyll in alâ—â— thing reâ—â—ke those that scaped knowing the great diligence that they puâ— themselues to but to pray you â—ll that preferring your honour aboue the heauinesse that ye maye haue of the losse of your companions yâ— will assaye the truce fayling to reauenge them fighting strongly with them that are too prouide of their viâ—orie I am of this mynd that we shall put our selues in lâ—sse daungers and lesse â—azaâ—de our selues tyll wâ— may haue vpon themâ— that they haue had vpon vs nor that to haue lesse courage to assayle them or to defende vs if fortune doe continue to diffaine â—s consideryng that if we all die that it shall be vnto vs an immortall glorie and one Sepulchre the most honorable that wée can wyshe for or desire for all the earth in generall is the verye place where the bodyes of noble and couragious men shoulâ—e bée layde whose memorie is not conserued and kepte onely by Epitaphes and inscriptions but by the renoume of those that publishe themselues among strange nations that consider more in theyr mindes the greatnesse and heygth of courages than the thing that fortuned vnto them considering that cowardnesse accompanyed wyth shame is more grieuous and diâ—pleasant to a man that hath a good and an entire harte than the death that chauncâ—th by manfulnesse with the hope of publike glorie That thing my great friends maketh me beleue that ye not degeneratyng from your predecessors shall doe that â—hâ— worldâ— may knowe the great vertue and constancie that is in you and that in tho deathe of your Prince all yours â— not ioyned and contained Therefore I pray you to tell â—e the deliberation where to ye intrude to the intent that I following your resolution may take counsell on my part to set in order the thing that shal be necessarie assuring you by tâ—â— worde of a King that if I should die a thousande deathesâ— I will not departe from hence vntill I haue an ende of my enimyes or they of me Nascian the hermites Oration to King Lisuard aduertising him that he is not so nyghe him without a great cause and occasion and furthermore he sheweth him that he shoulde not goe aboute to marie his daughter Oriane to the Emperour bycause she is ioyned to another and giueth him the reason why And by this meanes he entendeth to turne him from the enterprise of warre In the .4 booke the .19 Chapter SYr ye haue good cause and reason so to thinke for certainly my great age and estate where vnto it hath pleased the Lorde to haue called me long since doth well excuse me to be among this bloudy people yet considering the euill that myghte haue happened if I had deferred my enterprise I haue not feared to trauell my body trusting to doe agreable seruice to God and healthfull to your soule Understande syrâ— that beyng a fewe dayes since in the hermitage wheâ—e by chaunce I wayted for you and when you and I communed togethen of the strange nouriture of Esplandian I then knewe the occasion of the warre that ye haue begonne agaynst Amadis and hys and neuerthelesse I am sure that ye can not doe nor perfourme the thyng that ye haue enterprised that is to marrie my Ladie your daughter to the Emperour of Rome for the whyche too manye yll chances are alreadie chaunced not onely bycause they are not agréeable as well to the greatest as to the leaste of your Realme as oftentymes they haue caused it to
or euer ye my Lord and cousin arriued and came hither we were gathered togither in thys place to prouide for the same and now that we fynde you so conformable to our willes I am sure that there is none of vs that thinketh any other thing but that fortune doth call vs to performe it and end it promising vs certen victorie being pensife sory for the fauor that she hath borne thus loÌ„g to king Lisuard the which at this present in no wise doth know himselfe and that it is so what hath he to do to sende my sister against hir will into a straunge countrey hath the king my father giuen hir vnto him to do his pleasure with hir ye knowe that a little after our departing out of Englande I sent to the Quéene for hir but she refused me that sending me word by Gandales that she would sée hir intreated nourished as hir proper person Is this the good intreating that she hath kept for hir at the last to destroy hir hath Mabile no nother place to conuey hir selfe vnto but to the Emperours house Is not the Realme of Scotland rich ynough to nourish and to bring hir vp by God this manner of doing of king Lisuard is so vnfortunable and so farre out of reason that I had rather die a huÌ„dreth fold if it were possible than not to be reuenged and already I haue sent to my father to prouide therefore In the meane while I pray you all my Lords to ayde me and you specially whome this iniurie doth touch in a manner as well as me being done not only to my sister your cousin and nigh parente but to Olinda and other of whome folowing the thing that we haue promised and sworne as my Lorde Amadis hath saide we ought to be the protectors and defenders The Oration of Grasind to those of the enclosed I le praising their enterprise going to succoure Oriane and hir damsels In the .3 booke and .17 Chapter BY my God your enterprise is high and worthy of very greate laude and prayse considering that besides the good that ye do to them that ye go to help and succcoure ye shall ensue and follow the other good knights the whiche are of this countrie or strangers so that from hencefoorth men shal not suffer folowing you that any man should do wrong to any Lady or to any other damsell And therefore ye shal so indet them that both they and these that be and that shal come a hundred yeares and mo hereafter shall thanke you King Lisuards Oration to my Lady Oriane his daughter exhorting hir to allow the mariage to be good that he hathe vndertaken to make of hir with the Emperoure In the 3. booke the .18 Chapter MY welbeloued ye haue alwayes shewed your selfe obedient to my will without any contradiction and will ye not continue still as reason willeth you ye melancoly your selfe as farre foorth as I see for the mariage that I haue found out for you whereof I do greatly maruell Estéeme you that I would once thinke to do any thing that shoulde not turne to your honoure and profite Thinke you that I am of so euill a nature towardes you I sweare vnto you by my faith that the amitie that I beare you is so certein and sure that I haue no lesse heauinesse for your departing from hence than â—e haue But ye know that it should be impossible to prouide for you so well as vnto my selfe Therfore I pray you vsing your accustomable wisedom to make better cheere and to reioice your selfe of the goodnesse that is chanced vnto being the wife of the greatest prince of all the world And if ye do that ye shall besides that ye shall be esteemed receiue and comfort your father the which is as heauy of your anoyance as nothing more The answer of Oriane to king Lisuard hir father declaring vnto him the great wroÌ„g that he doth hir to marrie hir against hir will. In the .3 booke the .17 Chapter MY Lord ye haue theÌ„ as farre foorth as I sée resolued the mariage of me and the Emperoure It may be that ye haue made one of the greatest faults that any Prince can do for first of all I will neuer loue the husband that ye gyue me and I am well assured and certaine as I haue declared vnto you not long since that Rome shall neuer sée me willing rather to fall into the mercie of fishes than to dwell in a place wherevnto I haue no desire or affection Now I cannot thinke what hath induced you or perswaded you to do this but the loue that ye beare to my sister and the desire that ye haue to leaue hir your sole heyre and me the moste miserable damsell of all the world but God that is iust wyll not suffer that your intention so vnreasonable shall come to effect but rather shal send death vnto me if it so please him Amadis Oration to his companions admonishing them to take good courage to succoure in so great neede so many noble damsels In the selfe same Chapter MY companions and friends were it not for the assuraÌ„ce that I haue of the vertue and magnanimitie that is in you all I without doubt would refraine to put in aduenture the battell that we sée is ready if we would take it in hande But yet I knowing you to be such as ye are indéede and also the iust occasion for the which we are entred and haue taken the sea I thinke that we shuld not delay it but to cast away all feare to deliuer froÌ„ captiuitie so many desolate damsels the whiche call vnto vs to succoure and to help them by the only obligation and band that we haue to defend their libertie Therefore I beséech you let vs so liuely set vpon these shippes in such sort y setting these ladies out of danger their coÌ„ductors shal neuer bring newes to their Emperour The complainte of Queene Sardamire for the Prince Salust Quide complayning of the euilles and miseries that were to come In the .4 booke the .1 Chapter ALas fortune doth now shew that she will go not only to the ruine and destruction of vs miserable captiues but of the Emperoure and of al his Empire Ah ah poore prince euill lucke hath méetely well runned vpon thee Alas what losse and what heauinesse shall they haue for euer that loued thée when they shall know thy sodein end I cannot tell how thy master may support it and beare it but I beléeue that he shal not so soone heare the newes but that he shal die throgh great anger hauing a good cause for the losse at once of so many great vessels and good men and specially for you my Lady que she to Oriane whome he desired much more than any thing of this world and for whome from hencefoorth shall be moued so strange warres that néedes it must be for many good knights most cruelly to finish and to ende their dayes
he foresayd in the which he declareth that vpon â—ust occasion they enterprised against the Emperoure and that it is needefull in all sweetnesse to aduertise king Lisuard least he shoulde be miscontent In the .4 booke the .3 Chapter MY Lord Amadis it is very certeine that the enterprise that hath bin made vpon the Emperoure was not for any enmitie that we bare him but only to kéepe our fayth as al good knights should to sustayne and defend the wrongfully afflicted and specally all good Ladies of the whiche all we should be protectors And therefore I am thus minded first or euer we begin this warre that we send to king Lisuard and to cause him to vnderstand the occasion that moued vs to assaylâ— and inuade the Romaines and as quietly as may be if he be miscontent to pacifie him declaring vnto him with all graciousnesse the iniurie and wrong that he did to my Lady his daughter disheriting hir vnder the coloure to marrie hir with a strange Prince the which thing is not agreable vnto God nor to none of his subiects and therfore if it be his good pleasure to receiue hir to his grace and fauor and to forget the enuie if he heare hir any offering vnder this condition to restore hir vnto hym and no otherwise And if he refuse it and disdaine the duetie that we put oure selues in that then we declare resolutely vnto him that we doubt him not and that we if he make warre vpon vs be ready to defend vs In the meane while it is necessarie that we fortifie vs with all things thaâ— are requisite â—o a thing of such importance as this is at least way if he purpose to inuade vs that he find vs not vnprouided although he will be as my mind giueth me more ready to peace than to any other thing but yet that should not cause vs tâ— be slacke to make vs ready and to send to our friends and alies to pray them to ayde vs when we shall send them word The Oration of Oriane to Agrayes thanking him for his benefites and praying him to labour for peace betwene king Lisuard and Amadis In the .4 booke the .3 Chapter MY cousin notwithstaÌ„ding I haue great hope in the wisdome of your cousin Amadis in the good will that thesâ— knightes beare me so me thinketh that I haue good reason and cause to haue in you a speciall fidâ—litie as well for the obligation in the whiche I finde my selfe bound to the king your father and also to the Quéene for the good intreating that they made me in Scotlande as for that they deliuered me your sister Mabile to kéepe me company by whome onely next vnto God I do liue for why without the comfort that she oftentimes made and gaue me when my misfortunes were most greeuous I had bene buried long since and depriued of this world And although that at this present I haue not the meane to recognise nother to them nor to you how muche I am bound to you yet I hope with the time by all meanes to endeuer me thereto And in the meane while ye shall not if it please you he miscontent that I familiarly do cause you to perceiue the gréeues that I suffer And to begin I pray you that ye leauing off the wrong that my father hath done you will to your power make meanes to haue peace betwene my cousin and him for I doubt not seing the auncient and old hatred that they haue together the occasion that ye all haue to will him little fauor but that full honestly the things begon shall come to no other end than to a great ruine of the one part and other if it be not through the resistance that ye may do vsing in this thing your wisedome and good counsell Of the which thing I pray you againe as well to auoide such inconuenience as not to make me suspect to straunge nations the whiche may hereafter doubt of my innocencie and bespot my good renoume the which is to me of such consequence as ye may iudge and estéeme Agrayes answer to Oriane excusing him selfe vnto hir and promising hir to satisfye hir mind as much as he may posssible and to fynd peace in tyme oportune In the .4 booke the .3 Chapter MAdame quoth he as touching the good intreating that ye receiued and had in Scotlande the king my father and the Quéene in that did nothing but that it becoÌ„med theÌ„ to do and I am sure that they haue you in such affection and loue that in things whervnto their power may extend they will emplâ—y it and do it for you as for their best parent and â—â—ie And considering that you doe say of my sister and me the effect shall dayly beare witnesse of our good will that we heare you beséeching you to beleeue that you may commauÌ„d vs as those the which desire your wealth and honor asmuch as their owne And as touching that you haue to cause me to forget the iniurie that the King your father hath dnoe to me and not only to me alone but to all my parents and friends he you assured Madame that the wounde is so great that it will bléede as long as I shall liue knowing the ingratitude that he hath vsed towards vs denying my Lord Amadis me and many other good Knights the request that we made vnto him to giue my vncle Galuanes the Isle of Mongase the which had deserued it and better coÌ„sidering also that it was conquered by the vertue and noble actes of him that prayed him but yet for the honor of you I am content to dissâ—Ì„ble that matter and to force my self vntil then to defer for a time the iust occasion that I haue to will him ill specially bycause he so straungely and after he had receiued of vs so many great seruices chased vs from his Courte as though we had bene his mortall enimies And to shewe you that I will wholly prepare me to please you I promise you Madame to assay to do to my power the thing that you desire of me but it were not reasonable that it shoulde be done so promptly for if I should nowe begin in the word and communication the thinges being thus disposed to warre in place to encourage so many good Knightes as be in this Isle I shoulde put the most part of them hearing me speake of peace in feare presuming that I it might be so helde suche a purpose as though I were the first that were afearde Also I should doe two euils togither that which after this might turne to the losse of vs all and to me alone great dishonor But I hauing your fathers answere shall pray my companions to do as ye haue deuised and counselled in the mean while you should as I do thinke be heauie as little as you may and take the time and fortune most paciently as constantly as you may possible Amadis Oration to Grasinda offering hir all pleasure and
moste certaine that there is no martyrdome nor no displeasure that tormenteth a man more than where fayth and true amitie make their habitation Alas my Amadis founde ye euer in me any other thing than affection and good will towarde you Did I euer thing were it neuer so little to cause you to be miscontent By my God ye doe me wrong The Oration of Abra to the Princes and people of Babilon complayning hir of the death of Zair their Prince incyting them to take armes as well for the death of Zair as to resist the Christians In the .8 Booke the .65 Chapter ZAir the last Sommer had enterprised a iourney to Trebisonde trusting with a perpetuall peace and amitie to take and to make an aliance and to marie the Emperours daughter But the euil houre succéeded so that the Souldan frustrated of his intentioÌ„ lost his life as it is manifest to euery man Therefore my Lordes there is not one of you vnto whome such an iniurie doth not redounde your Prince being so euill entreated and finally slaine and with his hande whom I my selfe had chosen and elected for my Lorde and spouse Truely the loue that I bare him hath béene euill recompensed plucking out the bloud out of the bellie of so noble a Prince of the Babilonians and of an infinite of other your friendes parents and kinsfolke And in such a sort that if you well considered how all is past it shall be founde that either your fathers or your brothers or your cousins in particular and general haue béene meate vnto the monsters of the sea their bodies being depriued of all honourable sepulture and buried among the waters of the déepe Abismes Shall this iniurie be forgotten at any time Shall the name of Babilon be made a fable vnto all those that shall heare men speake of their mischiefe Shall the iust veÌ„geance be ended without doing of any other thing Ah ah ye stoute Kings I adiure you by our high and mightie Gods that euerie one of you take his armure not onely to cause it to be knowne throughout all the worlde that ye be the dominators of all Princes that doth offende you but the scourge and chastisement of all nations The Christians as it is reported to me do assemble themselues cause a brute that they will come and finde vs and chasing vs out of our proper heritages proclaime Axiane the sonne of Zirphee Emperour of this Monarch But if ye will beleeue me we shall set them farre from their accountes and go to preuent them and to set them forwards entring into the Empyre of Trebisonde the which being sacked and destroyed we shall passe on to Constantinople where that fire and the edge of our swordes shal be the executours of our vengeance sparing neither king nor man woman nor childe being assured that if ye woulde set forth your ensignes and banners in the fielde that they should resist vs no more than straw agaynst fire And this is the cause Princes most excellent why I sent for you praying and commaunding you that in most greatest and most extréeme diligence ye may possible to cause the Drumme to sound throughout all your Countreyes and to assemble both horsemenn and footemen Galies Ships and other vessels as wel for warre as to carie vittayles that we our preparation being readie may finish and ende the rest of our enterprise so as I haue tolde you the which thing shall be vnto you verie honourable and profitable In the meane while I will sende to my friends and allies requiring and warning them to be fauourable vnto vs and to ayde vs considering that this déed and matter for the reason and cause that I haue declared vnto you doth touch them the Christians being willing to inuade as well theyr Countrey as this here if we will indure and suffer it Niquea preferring Amadis of Grece honour aboue the pleasure that she had of his presence doth suffer him to go and succour his father Lisuardâ— In the .8 booke the .74 Chapter MY Lorde the loue that I beare you is so perfite that vneasily I may giue you councell that shoulde be sounde and to me agréeable in this that ye demaund but yet greater is the force of your honour and renowne séeing that it hath béene the onely meane of the goodnesse that we haue the one of the other And for this cause ensuing and following reason and considering that no Emperour nor King shoulde make himselfe subiect if it were possible nor pay any tribute I thinke that you and I ought to neglect and forsake our pleasures to haue a respect to the thing that beséemeth you for the conseruation of you and of your estate Therefore I giue you if I shoulde so speake all the leaue that shall please you although that in veritie and truth it be due agaynst my will estéeming and holding it great glorie thus to captiuate my selfe to permit suffer you to haue such libertie by the which ye shall execute and cause to be knowne more and more the excellencie of your valiantnesse and high cheualrie The heauinesse of Lisuarde for the death of his wife Onoloria in the .8 booke the .73 Chapter ALas alas fortune what doth rest and remaine from henseforth to satisfie thée to trouble me Wilte thou haue my life a hundred a hundred times thou hast drawne me from the place where I had forsaken thée and yet for all that thou hast taken fro me to cause me to die a hundred tymes vpon a day my deare wife and spouse and hast by this euill houre and chaunce brought vnto me all the other that thou hast reserued and kept for me O God God eternall alas my friend my wife and my faythfull companion ye are all things considered wel at ease liuing in heauen and I remayning and dwelling among such and so great melancolies and heauinesses Pardon me I pray you if I lament wéepe for you too vndiscretely This is not for the good chaunce that ye haue but for sorrow that I do not follow you and accompanie you in your â—ases as ye haue fiftene or twentie yeares folowed me in the most part of my trauels Gradasilea doth comfort king Lisuarde shewing him that heâ— must be constant in his aduersitie and not to sorrow for death so much In the .8 Booke the .73 chapter HOw nowe my Lorde is this the magnanimitie of heart that is woont to be in you haue ye forgotten that you and I are borne to die Thinke ye to reuiue my Ladie againe by wéeping or thus tormenting your selfe she is certainly very fortunate and happie wherefore then do you lament hir so greatly She hath shewed you the way and doth tarie you in the place where one day if it please God we shall see hir Leaue these teares such exterior appearances to those that haue no hope in the second life comfort your self in the lord beséeching him to giue you the vertue of pacience
ye should beare me For it séemed to me if ye had loued me so much as I loued you ye would not haue deferred the healing of my sickenesse so long as ye haue done Alas Madame howe farre are ye deceiued if ye thinke that I at any time haue the power to repent or to go farre from the great loue that I haue borne you and shall beare you as long as the spirite shall breath within my body for truely there is nothing in the world that was more impossible for me Think not at all Madame louing you as I doe loue you that euerâ— I coulde fall into any repentance of your loue considering the glorie and pleasure that I finde in louing of you I pray you then to giue me life through your fauour to my great ioye or shortly to send me death through your disfauour to make an ende of my anoyance and of the dolour in the which I shall continually remaine vntil ye giue me rest and the tranquillitie that your letter dothe promise mée and looking for so great and good and houre I kisse a thousand times your fayre and delicate handes A letter from Filisell of Montespin to Marfira complayning of the long terme and time that she hath set him to haue the ioyfull pastime whereof he had alreadie tasted and he prayeth hir to alleage it In the twelfe booke the .14 Chapter DOm Filisell of Montespin doth sende to the faire and gracious Marfira health the which he hathe losâ—e by the moste gréeuous sickenesse that he as yet hath proued Alas Madam if euer I loued you with good affection nowe I die wholly for your loue and if euer I had any hope to reioâ—ce of your diuine beauties now I am at the last in desparation bicause the long time that I must tarie without hauing any more the ioy of the goodnesse and pleasure whereof through your good grace I haue tasted and sauored the tranquilitie and gracious swéetenesse If before this I haue had any desyre I haue desired it after such a fashion that I knew not the thing that I desired But now being learned by experience I know that I desire the most pleasure and goodnesse that is possible to desire sauing one other that I knowe but ye maye not know it although the pleasure that I desire be extréeme Hitherto Madame I haue tormented my selfe to sée and to beholde the apparant graces of your beautie by the whiche yé◠maye make subiect to your seruice the fierce heartes of men more than barbarous but nowe I torment me to reioyce and play with your graces secretes of the which I among all other haue merited the pleasure Alas Madame cause I beséech you that so great goodnesse as ye haue shewed me turne me not to greater euill and denie me not the remedie which kissing your fayre and white handes I pray you to graunt me as soone as the dolorous passion in the whiche I am doth requyre it Filisels letter to Marfira reioysing himselfe and giuing hir thankes for the good houre that shee caused him to haue praying hir to continue vnto him hir grace and fauour In the .12 booke the .15 Chapter DOn Filisel of Montespin doth sende to the fayre and gracious Marfira the salute whereof he enioyeth to his great contentation The glorie wherein I am is so great that I can not tell with what wordes I ought to prayse it so that the prayse may be compared to his greatnesse O I the most happiest of all knightes of the worlde séeing it hath pleased you Madame to make me worthie through your fauours of the thing that I by my selfe could in no wise decerne This letter is onely to cause you to vnderstand my great ioy by the which ye are now indetted to me for the thing that hath caused me to merit it that is that I returne very shortly vnto you to take and to haue the selfe same pleasure of your beautie that it pleased you the last night to graunt me so that by this newe ioy I may rewarde the anoyance that I endure in the time that I cannot finde the oportunitie of so great a pleasure Wherefore Madame I pray you continually to intertaine me in such a good houre that if ye haue béene the cause that I am nowe exalted to so high a degrée that hereafter ye be not the cause of my miserable fall and ruine But to the entent ye shall not reprehend me of too great importunitie I will make an ende of my letter kissing a thousande tymes your white and delicate hands in remembrance of the peace that folowed the warre that is past I recommend me to my deare Caria praying hir shortly to purchase me the tyme so greatly desyred in the whiche I maye renue the fortunate occasion of my glorie The complaint of Queene Sidonis In the .12 booke the .21 Chapter O Graue honour of my high and royall lynage howe hast thou conducted me to an euill fortune whereof I may receyne a iust rewarde of my folly O loue howe doest thou cause to appeare in me thy deceytfull force and strength causing mée to vse hatred and crueltie vnto him that I loued much more than my selfe O Fortune with what inconstancie and lightnesse art thou chaunged putting me then in such desperation when I beganne to haue hope shortly to accomplish the thing that I desired most in this worlde O Gods immortall with howe much rigour haue ye willed to recompence the flerce pride and the prowde presumption of the Quéene Sidonia O my deare daughter and yet the daughter of him that robbed the holy rites of my chastitie Alas howe woulde ye haue payed me for the thing that ye denyed anâ— for the loue that ye bare continually to your father in recompence of the outrages and iniuries that I dayly sought for him O my daughter the first of the worlde and none like in beautie to the ende to make and to render like vnlike the delour that I endure nowe for thy death O cruell death howe doest thou leaue me in so miserable a life O cruell life howe doest thou leaue me in so miserable a death O Gods immortall wherefore doe ye suffer so great an iniurie as is that which I receyue by my life séeing my daughter Diana is dead But what do I say It is iust that ye as ye are iust doe shewe me to rigorous iustice to cause me to take vengeance vpon my selfe confounding me in a certaine dolour and heauinesse the which I haue procured to my selfe Alas Daraide howe doest thou giue to me and my daughter the dutie whereof thou wast indetted vnto vs to me giuing me with thy ende the ende of the folly of my vengeance in killing againe by thy death the hope and confidence that I had in thy life to my daughter recompencing hir death by thine the which is the last payment whereof thou wast bounde to the loue that thou didst beare hir and to that that she did
¶ The moste excellent and pleasaunt Booke entituled The treasurie of Amadis of Fraunce Conteyning eloquente orations pythie Epistles learned Letters and feruent Complayntes seruing for sundrie purposes The vvorthinesse vvhereof and profite dothe appeare in the Preface or table of this Booke Translated out of Frenche into English. Imprinted at London by Henry Bynneman for Thomas Hacket And are to be solde at his shoppe in the Royall Exchaunge at the signe of the greene Dragon ¶ To the righte worshipfull â—ir Thomas Gressam knight Tâ—omas Hacket vvisheth the fauoure of God long lyfe increase of worship continuall health and felicitie WHEN I call to my remembraÌ„ce right vvorshipfull Sir vvhat our merciful and good God hathe doone for vs by his vnspeakeable omnipotencie and also what giftes hee hathe indued man vvithall vvee can not chuse but be thankful to him for his vvorthie benefites bestovved vpon vs vvho so noteth substaÌ„cially from time to time vvhat vvorthie instrumentes God hath raised vp in all artes and sciences as some passing in singlenesse of gifts as Aristotle Galen Ptolome Plinie vvith other vvith those vvorthie Oratours the Grecians as Demosthenes Isocrates and that vvorthie Romaine the Prince of Eloquence Marcus Tullius Cicero vvhose excellencie hath surpassed all others and bene leaders and scholemasters to all others It vvas not vvithout great cause right vvorshipful that man is called Mycrocosmos that is to say a little vvorlde it vvas not vvithout great consideration that Aristotle calleth him the sercher of secretes for vvhat thing is there in this vvorld but man hath sought it out be it neuer so harde or obscure vvhat vertue in stone or plant or any grovving thing yea the vertue of beasts fishes fovvles and serpentes and vvhatsoeuer is conteined in the earth aire vvater or fyre mettals mynes of golde siluer leade tinne yron c. In fine how excelleÌ„t in al philosophie asvvell naturall as morall as Arithmetike Geometrie Astronomie Cosmographie besides all these those moste excellent historiographers and yet in my mynd this surpasseth all others that is to say to be an excellent Oratour singular in orations pythie and ingenious in vvriting Epistles for therby is brought to passe the moste excellent things for publike gouernment as also for euery mannes priuate cause and vse for vvho knovveth not vvhere learning and good gouernement consisteth their orations bee of moste excellent force to set foorth hovve tymes haue bene passed vvith the tyme present and also to giue vvarning and foresee for time to come hovve the good and vertuous haue merited and receyued perpetuall fame as to the ouerthrovve of the vvicked too their reproche and ignomie So right vvorshipfull this booke vvhich I present vnto you is stufte vvith pleasant orations fine epistles singular complaintes vvith matter mixt so fitly and aptly to serue the turne of all persons not curious nor filled full of obscure and darke sense but playne and pleasant depending and ansvvering one an other vvith most delectable matter for all causes as vvell incouraging the bashfull person and covvarde to bee valiant as the vvorthie ladies and damselles in their amorous Epistles feruente complaintes of iniuries handled moste excellently And yet I confesse not so graue and vvorthie matter as your vvoorship deserueth to haue Therfore I craue pardon at your hands for this my rashe enterprise trusting in God you vvill receiue it in good part as a token of my good vvill tovvards you and though it yeld not so pleasant a grace in the Englishe toung as it dothe in the Frenche the vvhiche it vvas vvritten in I knovve youre vvoonted maner and good nature is to take smal thinges in good part vvhich hath imboldened me at this present to dedicate this booke of the Treasurie of Amadis of France vnto your vvorship vvhen god sendeth to my hand any other I do intend to make ye partaker therof And therfore least at this present I shoulde seeme to be ouer tedious vnto you I coÌ„mit you to God vvith my good Ladie your vvife vvith all youre familie praying to God for your prosperous and good succesâ—e in all youre affaires and enterprises From London by yours for euer THOMAS HACKET To the gentle Reader A VERY frend of myne most gentle reader instantly desired me to english him this french booke intituled the Treasurie of Amadis the whiche when I had well perused it pleased me not a little as wel for the elegant phrase thereof as for the diuersities and arguments therin wrapped and inclosed For truly it aboundeth with such eloquent orations and wyse counsels with such swéete and delicate Epistles and letters especially of loue so curteously and annably handled with suche exhortations and admonitions so prudently penned with suche lamentations complaints so sorowfully and mournfully expressed with suche consolations and comforts in aduersitie so frendly and louingly pronounced with such answers and replications so ingeniously inuented with reproches and tauntes so bitingly and bitterly spoken with requâ—sts so humainly and ciuilly demaunded with excuses so craftily and subtilly painted and coloured with defyances so stoutly and courageously sente to the aduersarie and receiued that if a man were astonied much amazed it woulde quicken him and sodeynly reuiue his spirites againe For what a dullarde is he that wise counsell vertuous exhortations friendly admonitions wittie and subtill persuasions shall not quicken and reuiue and how farre without sense is he whom amiable fine and beautifull ladies with their ticklyng and flatteryng wordes shall not awake stirre vp and call to their lure wanton fansie feruent louâ— What stonie and harde hearte hath he that with the glittering and twinkeling of the eye the abundant teares the dulcet and swéete parolls of his paramour wherwith this fine flattering booke is infarced will not be mollifyed and melted And how depely are they drowned in sorrowe that with godly and vertuous consolation will not be comforted What weake and cowardly heartes and stomackes haue they that will not be stirred or moued with the rhetorical eloquent orations the vehement persuasioÌ„s and liberall promises and rewards of wise noble worthie capitains pluck vp their harts inuade their enimies for worthie renoume sake immortall glorie fight stoutly and corageously as Amadis the king of England France Florâ—an with other did as this proper booke in diuers places reciteth most cordially Wherout men may learne to be noble oratours wise and prudent counsellours excellent Rhethoricians expert captains amorous companions feruent honest louers secrete messengers obedient seruaÌ„ts elegant enditers of louely Epistles swéete pronouncers true ortographers of the french tong so pleasant so highly coÌ„mended and so imbraced of all men Wherfore gentle Reader let it not lothe thée I pray thée to reade this fine and fruitfull booke nor to ensue the honest and vertuous lessons the prudent admonitions and good counsels of the same for thou shalt not at any tyme as I thinke repent thée more for the reading of it than I for
that I may accoÌ„pany you if not to giue me leaue for I haue pointed to depart tomorrow early in the morning Amadis answer to Bruneo excusing himselfe that he was constrayned to leaue him In the .3 booke the .5 Chapter BY my fayth my great friend I haue all my life time desired such company as yours is being well assured that there could not chaunce to me but all honour and good fortune But the kings purpose and communication that he of late hath had wâ—th me not as yet to depart from his countrey doth constraine me to leaue and forsake your company whereof I am sore displeased Therefore I pray you to haue me excused praying God that he will conducte yoâ—â— King Arauignes Oration to his Souldiers inciting and prouoking them to behaue themselues strongly in the battell In the .3 booke the .5 Chapter WHat néede is it my Lords greatly to exhort you to fight well and strongly seeing that you are here to doe the same and your selues the authors of this war in the whiche you haue chosen me to be your head and principall coÌ„ductor the which thing is the principall cause and reason why that I shall shewe you what me thinketh and what my mynde is to the intent that after you haue perceiued me you maye haue before your eyes the cause why you are in so great nuÌ„ber of people gathered togither Certainly it is not to defend yâ—ur countrie your libertie your wiues your children or your goods But it is to conquer and to bring vnder the yoke a people the moste proudest and fiercest that is this daye liuing and the which estéeme vs being farre from them as nothing yet that notwithstanding I beléeue that they neare at hande dare not tarie for vs althoughe that you sée them march forwardes furiously but that notwitstanding if you beholde well their countenance it seemeth that it shoulde haue more efficacie to moue you and to giue an heart to fight well than all the wordes of any man lyuing yea although you were in a maner vnprouided and yll appointed But contrariwise we are here the floure and the strength of the most part of al the Ocean Isles and in such a great number that in a maner it were sinne to dout of our certain victoriâ— And more certenly to assure vs therof remembring that we are in a strange land and very farre from our owne not among our good friends but in the midst of al those that desire our death a thing that we can not auoide if we be once broken for they haue many horsemen by the whiche we shall be pursued hauing no maner of meane to retire to our ships And therfore we must be resolued either to winne or to die for the necessitie wherein we be is much more to be feared than their force and might therfore let euery man do his dutie and I hope or and before the night dothe deuide vs we shall be masters and Lordes of all this countrie and afterwardes redoubted and feared in all coastes of the world King Lisuards Oration vnto his Knightes aduertising them of his iust quarrell and that they for this cause should manfully sustaine his part In the selfesame booke the .5 Chap. MY friendes the right being on our side God the which is iust and in whose handes are the victories will if it please him helpe vs And if they would saye that they make warre vpon me to reuenge those only that last inuaded this Realme with King Cildadan be you assured that they maye well finde themselues deceiuedâ— for knowing and beléeuing to reuenge their iniurie vpon trust of some power their shame oftentimes groweth and increaseth and do ende and â—inishe their dayes as I hope they shall vnfortunately for there are none of you so yong and vnskilful to be in any such conflictes that is not experimented and reputed by themselues a wise and a hardie Knight They grounde their victories onely vpon the great number of people that they haue in their campe people I may saye gathered togither and of all nations the most part without order and without obedience the which séeing vs to drawe nigh shall be astonyed or euer we haue abased our lauÌ„ces and if we may once set them out of order and arrayeâ— we shall haue euen what we will. Let vs then boldly go on and make them knowe that they be not better men than their companions of whose burials and sepulchers our lande hath bene fatted and dunged and the Wolues three or foure times with their carren carcases repasted when they were by youre vertue and magnanimitie destroyed in battell The exhortation of King Perion of Fraunce to Amadis and Florestan his sonnes giuing them courage to be strong against their misfortune In the .3 booke and .6 Chap. HOwe nowe be you astonyed so sonâ— of the déedes of fortune are you yet to learne hir moueablenesse by my â—aith I thought you more strong and consâ—ant of one thing I praye you not to giue me more anoyance and heauinesse than I haue for your heauinesse doth cause such passions in my soule as only are sufficient to cause me to dye Therefore quiet your selues and let vs hope in God the which is almightie to drawe vs out of this place We muste commende our selues vnto him and haue our trust in him only but who would euer haue thought that we should haue falne into such an accident or chaunce by the onely persuasion of a simple Damsell vnder the colour of fayning hirself dumbe after that we had escaped the dangers of so cruell a battell Thus my children seing that we can set no order let vs contemning all naturall pitie that yâ—e may haue of me and I of you take our fortune in good worth Amadis answere to Archalaus the which demaunded what he was In the selfesame Chapter BY my fayth Lorde Archalaus when you shall knowe what we be I am sure that you will better intreat vs than we haue bene as yet for you being a Knight as we be and that hath often suffered the mischaunces and turnes of fortune as we doe shall not finde it euill that we haue holpen our friendes as we would doe for you in like case and if there be in vs any noble actes the same should be a meane to cause you the better to recognise and knowe whither you doe vs wrong or no. The Oration of Arquisill a Knight of Rome to his companions not to defer and delay the Combate and fight accorded and appointed In the .3 booke the .7 Chap. HOwe now my Lordes shall you forget and thus lese the reputation of our Empire Shall it be published that eleuen Knights of Rome haue bene through feare of death so slouthful as not to be so hardy to fight with twelue grosse Almaines vnexpert in armes by God if I alone had enterprised and taken them to taske I would not to die a thousand deathes togither defer it And if you feare and doubt of
same man continuing hys complaynt dothe saye In the .3 booke the .12 Chapter Ah my great friende Angriota of Estrauauxâ— where are ye now and how haue ye forsaken me hauing so long time mainteined this company togither and when need is ye leaue me without any ayde or succoure not that I wil blame you for I my selfe haue bene the cause to separate vs thys day to our great misfortune the which shall also separate vs one from another for euer The Oration of Oriane to Florestan declaring vnto him that the absence of him and of Amadis hath caused great harme to many damsels In the .3 booke the 12â— Chapter IN good fayth my Lord Florestan it is loÌ„g ago since we saw you in this countrey whereof I greatly mused as well for the good will that I do beare you as for the néede that manye poore creatures haue suffered the whiche were wont to fynde and to haue succour of you of Amâ—dis and of many other that haue folowed him Cursed be ther that are cause of so long a separation And beléeue that I speake not thys wythoute greate occasion for I know a poore Damsell that is verye néere to be dishorited bycause she hathe not one to defende the wrong that men haue done hir And if Amadis were â—ere agayne and likewise the other whyche are farre from hence she might be sure that hir right should not as it is be taken from him but seing they be abseÌ„t she hath no better hope nor no other recourse but vnto death Florestans answer to Oriane certifying hir that Amadis maketh good cheere and that his name is dayly diuulgate thorough his fortunable conquests In the .3 booke the .14 Chapter MAdame God that is mercifull doth neuer forget those that put their trust in him and if it please him he shall not begin with the damsell that is so desolate As touching my Lord Amadis be ye assured that he is in very good health searching continually strange aduentures and in such wise that for the great feates of armes that he doth in farre countreys where he is his renoume doth diuulgate it selfe in all the coasts of the world King Lisuards Oration to Galaor concerning the mariage of Oriane and the Emperour desiring him to giue his aduise In the .3 booke the .14 Chapter MY great friend I haue alwayes knowen so great fidelitie in you and haue found it so profitable that I ofteÌ„ times haue beleeued your counsell and am purposed neuer to conclude any matter of importance without it Ye knowe the honor that the Emperoure doth me and the embassade that he newly hath sent vnto me desiring me to giue him my daughter Oriane to be his wife And ye shall beléeue me I thinke that the Lord in this thing dothe muche for hir and me for he is at this present the most mightie and redoubted Prince of all chiâ—tendome And being thus well alyed wyth him I from hencefoorth shall haue no neighboure nor enemie that shall dare once lift vp his hornes to hurt or to enuie me and I shal be more feared and obeyed than euer was any king of England Furthermore it shall be in a manner impossible to prouide better for hir than she shall be being the wife of suche an Emperoure and thus Leonor shall remaine after me sole Lady of my landes and countries the which otherwise might be deuided and a thing very hurtful But yet I am purposed to do nothing without the aduice of the Lords and knights of my Court and specially yours the which I pray you by the amitie that ye haue alwayes borne me to tell me freely and frankly and without any dissimulation The answer of Galaor to king Lisuard the which doth tend to disswade to turne him by the reasons that he bringeth in from the foresaid mariage In the .3 booke the 14â— Chapter SYr ye say that marying my Lady Oriane to the Emperoure ye shall prouide so well for hir that it should be impossible to prouide better The whiche thing séemeth to me cleane contrary for she being your principall heire and to send hir into a farre countrey to cause hir to leese hir realme the which is hirs already ye shall make hir poore without men and in subiection to a people not agreing with the maners and conditions of this countrie And if it séeme to you that she to be the Emperours wife to beare the name of an Empresse shall be in more authoritie in time to come by God Syr ye do abuse your selfe and here is the reason therof Suppose that it may chaunce hir to haue male children by the Emperoure hir husband if she remaine widow the first thing that hir sonne shall do vnto hir shall be to cause hir retire and to haue the rule of the Empire alone and if he marrie it will be worse for the new princesse will be inferior to none And therefore it is most sure that my Lady your daughter shall fall into a thousand inconueniences and extreme sorowes hauing forsaken this countrey the which certenly is hir natiue land to liue in a straunge countrie from hir parents subiects and seruants And as conceâ—ning ye say that thorough his fame you shall be succoured feared and redoubted truly sir ye haue thanks be to God so many friendes and knightes at your commaundement that without the ayde of the Romaines ye may easely if ye think it good extend your limits and I beléeue that in the steade to haue any support they shall rather assay to bring you to ruine and to destroy you than as ye estéeme to ayde and succour you for they will haue no egal vnto them nor none greater nor aboue them And furthermore this is certaine that they would demaund nothing more than to haue an occasion to set you in their Chronicles to your confusion and their glory vnder the shadow of some little fauor that they haue borne you the which thing should be the greatest euill that might happen to you and yours And also Syr what reason should it be to put my Lady Oriane your daughter and principall inheriter so farre from you to aduantage so much the princesse Leonor the whiche is the yonger by my soule for a righteous king and that is taken throughout all the world for an author of iustice ye shall make peraduenture the greatest wound in your renoume that euer did prince or mightie king And God neuer giue not only to you the will so farre out of reason but also to the poorest knight of your court beséeching you sir most humbly to beléeue that I would not haue bin so foolish hardy to declare vnto you so freely the thing that I thought good if ye had not expressely commaunded me and also bicause I am minded and apointed to kéepe vnto you all my life the fidelitie that I haue promised as he that doth feele him bound vnto you for the goodnesse and fauor that ye haue done for me Oriane complayning to
Florestan that hir father would marie hir to the Emperoure against hir will prayeth him to speake to hir father In the .3 booke the .14 Chapter ANd beléeue said she that if he continus in his opinion that the first newes that he shall haue after my departure of me the same shall be of my death for what soeuer shall chance if he separate me from this countrie the Sea and death shall separate me also being well minded to ende my misfortunes by the impetousitie and furiousnesse of the waues the which shal be witnesses for euer of my dolours as they of the which I hope to fynd more pitie than in my owne father parents countrey friendes and seruantes And therefore my Lord Florestan I pray you in the name of God to prepare your selfe to dissuade him of his fantasie or else by my faith this thing shall be vnto him a greate charge in conscience and to me the most strange misfortune into the which any poore damsell disherited and forsaken of God and man might fall Florestans answer to Oriane excusing himselfe to hir that he dare not speake to hir father for hir and that he will cause him to bee spoken to by other In the .3 booke the .14 Chapter MAdame ye shall do me great iniurie if ye haue me not in that estimation that I am entirely yours and ready to obey and to serue you vntill death but to speake to the king your father as ye pray me is impossible for me to do for ye know the enmitie that he beareth me in despite of my Lord Amadis forgetting all the great seruices that he and all they of his linage haue done him in times past and if he haue receiued any by me he ought not to thanke me seing that I did it not for his loue but by his commaundement that hath all power vpon me and vnto whome I may not nor I ought not to saye against the whiche was the cause that I of late was in the warre of the seuen knightes not to ayde those of England but only to conserue and kepe the right that ye haue there as she y one day shall be if it please God Lady â— Quene And as concerning the rest I wil obey you and shal cause king Perin to vnderstand the thing that ye haue told me and other my friendes to assay and to finde remedie in your affaires and I trust they wil in such sort prouide for you that ye shall haue an occasion to content you assuring you that I will tarie in no place til that I be in the inclosed I le where I shall find the Prince Agraies the which hath as ye know a great desire to do you seruice also for the loue of Mabile his sister There we shall aduise vs togyther of the thing that we must take vpon vs without sparing of any thing that is in our puissance and power The Oration of the Earle ArgamoÌ„t to king Lisuard touching the mariage of Oriane tending to turne him from the marying of hir to the Emperoure In the .3 booke the .15 Chapter MY Lord seing it pleaseth you that I speake before thys company the thing that I thinke of the Emperoures mariage with my Lady Oriane your daughter I beséech you most humbly to receiue of me the thing that ye shall vnderstand in good part for it is no lesse treason to dissemble good counsell toward his Prince than to offend him in his proper person therefore beléeue that I without dissimulation shall tell you mine aduice notwithstanding that often ynough I haue particularly declared it vnto you Syr ye knowe that my Lady Oriane your eldest daughter ought to succéede you and to be by reason inheriter of the lands that God and fortune hathe gyuen and committed to your custodie vnto the which by right of nature she hath more iust title than ye euer had for they fell vnto you only by the death of king FalaÌ„gâ—is the which was but your brother and she is your owne daughter and the eldest Therefore consider with your selfe that if he had done on your part as ye apoint to do to my Lady Oriane ye had not bene now so great so mightie a Lord as ye are Wherfore will ye chase hir away to cal my niece Leonor into hir place coÌ„sidering that as I beléeue she neuer offended you And if it séeme vnto you the marying hir to the Emperour Patin ye shal make hir a great Princesse very wel to prouide for hir truely syr you are far from your accompt for you know that hauing childreÌ„ togither if she outliue the Emperor she shal remain but the simple dowager of Rome in place to be after you Lady and Queene of this Realme furthermore do you estéem that your subiects wil hardly coÌ„sent there to by my soule I thinke that if they said yea that it should be perforce and against their wils and therefore so shall it not please God I say no otherwise vnto you than my conscience dothe vrge me being yet assured that for any thing that may be persuaded you you will giue no place but to your owne fantasie Thus I beséech you most humbly to pardon me considering that I would neuer haue spoken so farre without the expresse commaundement that you haue giuen me Grasindes letter to King Lisuard declaring his greatnesse vnto him and praying him to giue hir and the Knight of Greece a salfe conduct to come in safetie vnto him In the .3 booke the .15 Chapter RIght highe and magnificent Prince I Grasinde faire aboue all other faire Ladies of Rome giue you to witte that I am only aryued into your countrie in the guarde and custodie of the Knight of Gréece expresly for this cause that as I haue bene iudged and taken for the fayrest woman of all those of Rome and following this glorie the which hathe so contented my heart that when I am so estéemed aboue al the maydens of your Court then shall my spirit remaine as satisfied of that that it desireth more than any other thing And if there be any Knight that for the loue of any one particularly or for all togither will say the contrarie that he take deliberation of two things The first to fight with the Knight of Gréece and the other that he may haue of the damsell such a Coronet as I weare so that the victor in a signe of a triumphe of the victorie maye make a present to hir for whome he hath fought And if it please you syr to graunt me the thing that I desire of you you shall sende to me by this Damsell and to all my company but especially to the knight of Gréece a safe conducte that he receiue no outrageousnesse nor iniurie if it be not of those against whom he shall fight if he ouercome the first let the second the third the fourth come and all they that will proue him one after an other The Oration of the
good will. In the .4 booke the .4 Chap. MAdame I am maruellously displeasant that I had no better oportunitie to do you in this place the honor and the seruice that you merite and deserue but the time so euil to that purpose doth take away the occasion therefore I excusing my selfe do pray you not to take or impute a fault of a good will. For in times past you haue bounde me vnto you that there shall be no daye of all my life but I shall féele me your debter what seruice soeuer I may doe for you And bycause it is nowe long agoe since you did departe from your countrie it may be that the long abyding here in this countrie hath wrought you some displeasure I would therefore very greatly desire to knowe your deliberation and mynde that I might if it were possible haue some meane to obey you in the thing that should please you to commaunde me The answere of Grasinda to Amadis thanking him for his good will and affection that he beareth hir and that she will gather men to succour him in his affaires In the .4 boke the 4. Chapter MY Lord Amadis quoth she I shoulde be of a poore and of a verie slender iudgement if I knewe not certainly the companie and fauor that you did shewe me and that greater honour than coulde haue chaunced vnto me And the good intreating that you had as you say in my countrie if any such was shewed you is nowe but recompensed but to put you out of paine I will shewe you what I thinke I sée many good Knightes assembled for to helpe this Princesse the which altogither for the amitie and good estimation that they beare you haue put their hope and conduct vpon you â—o that it shall be impossible for you to put them from you without your great blame And seing that suche a charge is wholly set and layde vpon you ye must trauell to send on euery side to recouer people to help you so that the honour of so greate an enterprise may remayne with you and by the meanes and help of your friends be yours of the which I esteeme my selfe the firste And for this cause I intende to morow to send maister Elizabet into the parts of Rome to gather as many men as he can as well of my owne subiects as other and as shortly as he may to shippe them and to coÌ„uey them hither And in the meane time I shal kepe companie if it so please you with these other Ladyes if they wyll do me the honoure to receiue me trusting not to forsake theÌ„ vntill this warre begon haue taken another end Amadis letter to the Emperour of CoÌ„stantinople praying him to help him in his warres In the .4 booke the .4 Chapter RYght high and excellent Prince the knight of the gréene sword whose proper name is Amadis of Fraunce doth most humbly salute you And therefore sir I trauelling the countries after the destruction of Endriagne it pleased you to receiue me into youre Citie of Constantinople where after the honoure ye did me and had gently receiued me ye of your liberalitie offered to ayde me in fauoure of the seruices that I had done for you and to giue me succoure when néede shoulde require it through the reduction of the countrie the which ye named afterwards the I le of Sainct Mary Now the occasion is come whereby if it so please you ye may accomplish and fulfill your promise with the most iust quarell that is possible to be had or taken as master Elizabet shall shewe you whome I pray you sir wholly to beléeue for hys sake that doth kisse the hands of your maiestie Amadis Letters to Queene Briolania praying hir to giue good heede to the thing that he writeth and to helpe him folâ—owing hir good will. In the .4 booke the .4 Chap. I Beléeue Madame that after you haue perceiued by Tantilles your Steward the cause that hath moued me to send so diligently that you should fauour the thing that he shall tell you from me being well assured that vsing your gentle nurture you will not fayle me no more than ye beléeue that I woulde be readie to put my foote in the styrrop for you where necessitie shoulde offer it And bicause he hath bene present at the things which after my returne into this countrie haue chaunced me and that I haue giuen him charge to cause you to vnderstand them at length I will not trouble you to put you to the paine to reade any longer letter but I shall pray youâ— after you haue beléeued him to haue me continually in your grace and fauor of the whiche the same Amadis as long as he shall liue as yours desireth to haue a good part Amadis oration to Gâ—ndalin aduertising him of the good confidence that he hath in him and for this cause to goe to king Perin to aduertise him of his affaires to the ende and intent to helpe him In the .4 booke the .4 Chap. GAndalin thou art he that hath euermore had the kéeping of my most secrete and priuie affaires for the great amitie that we from our first yeres haue had togither as if nature of hir own selfe had called vs into one fraternitie Thou knowest that my honor is thyne and that thine doth touche me as myne owne Thou séest the affaires that I am in and of what consequence they be vnto me also the conclusion that by all these Knightes hath bene taken too busie and to call vpon our friendes and alies to haue mightie succour to sustain the force of king Lisuard if he assay and attempt to assayle vs By the meanes whereof I haue alreadie prepared letters to many Princes of whom I trust to recouer a good and a great company of men And notwithstanding thy absence is gréeuous vnto me yet I trusting more in thy diligence than in any others haue thought to send the to King Perion my father the which hath knowen thée long whom thou shalt cause to vnderstand better than any other of what importance this warre is if King Lisuard take it vpon him for as thou maist say vnto him it partly toucheth him in as much as this vnkinde King hath done shewed so great diâ—fame to all those of our linage as to driue them oute of his court after he had receiued of them an infinite of great seruices Thou shalt reciâ—e vnto him by smal pieces that thou knoweâ— and hast sone and the necessitie wherein thou didst leaue vs and that notwithstanding thou shalt yet assure him that I feare no power hauing so good right with me and so many knightes and that I had not made so greate an enterprise 〈◊〉 it had not bene that since God would call me to the order of cheualrie I haue thought nor minded no other thing but to kepe the estate of a knight defeÌ„ding to my power the wrong that men did to many and specially to ladies and Damsels the which ought
is no such thing and â—hat is worsse the more that the Lady or damsell the whiche is loued be of a good house and of great merite so much the more ye do glory wherby men know that not only ye beare them affection but that ye are loued and that she beareth you good wil aboue al other the which is very contrarie to the nature of womeÌ„ I meane of such as may name themselues wise for why the higher that the pareÌ„ts be the more feare they haue that meÌ„ should perceiue their amorous passions and in such sort that ordinarily they denie with word gesture and countenance the thing that they haue most printed in their hart and mind And not without cause considering that the thing which ye turne to prayse as ye think that your loue is made manifest doth bring vnto them and their honor a certayne spot the which oftentimes they cannot well deface So then it is more than necessarie to obserue this modestie and constancie in vs not that I will restrayne my selfe to this law seing that all my glory and felicitie doth hang and dependâ— vpoÌ„ you and so that I desire no greater thing in this worldâ— than that the loue and seruice that I beare vnto you were published euery where to the intent that they which shall haue knowledge of your great valure and of my litle merit may know euen then what is in me to be yours as I am Thus my Lord if séemeth to me that ye should take in good part and greatly to your aduantage the purpose that Gastilles hath written vnto you that ye were bound to my Lady Leonorina and in the presence of the Emperour for I answer you vpon my honour that both your affections are reciprokes and that she hath spoken very wisely vsing suche dissimulation I say not but that she had some occasion to be miscontented considering and seing the wordes which I at other times haue brought hir from you but that is easely amended And if the amitie loue that she so long hath borne you should be vtterly broken as I thinke it be not nother more nor lesse than a bowe that is broken péeced together agayne the whiche is more stronger in the place that it is mended in than in any other so you being present and in hir company shall bring togither and amend that ye shall finde broken and shall make hir to be much more yours than euer she was And therefore I would counsell you that obeying hir ye goe vnto hir and eueÌ„ to morow if it be possible A letter from Armato the king of the Turkes to all the princes of the Orient commaunding them to bring togither their force and strength to chase the Christians out of his limits and to conquer the Empire of Constantinople In the .5 booke the .45 Chapter ARmato called by the prescience of our gods immortall â—o the gouernmeÌ„t and rule of the great kingdome of Turkie Frontier and bulwarke of the Paganes lawe to all hys Califfes Kings Sondans Admirals and gouernoures of the lands that are in the parts of the Orient gréeting At my retourning out of prison whereof we are now deliuered I thought it good to giue you knowlege that not long since ther is come out of the North countrey as men say into these coastes a knight of the line of Brutus the Troyane vnto whome our gods haue permitted for our vnrighteousnesse as it is very like to conquere the mountaine defended putting to death Matroco and Furion two knightes estéemed among the best of all the Orient And that they do that is far worse dayly increase the number of Christians and labour to exterminate and destroy our holy law To withstaÌ„d this we haue taken armes vpon vs and prepared a strong and a puissaÌ„t armie thinking at the least to driue them out of our limites But yet after that we had kept a long siege before the mountaine Defended and had brought it to such extremitie that they which were within had no more vitailes he of whome we doubted most and the firste that enterprised this warre found a meane by the fauoure of a vile palliard one of ours called Frandalo to enter in and by cautell and subtiltie to take vs in such sort that our armie was destroyed and we remayned as prisoners in their handes where they kept vs for the space of a whole yeare most strayghtly during the same our affayres fell from ill to worse so by treson craftinesse they be in possessioÌ„ of Alfarin and of Galatia two of the best hauens of our realme The which they should neuer haue done without the help succour of that traytor vnfaithful Emperour of Constantinople And now they gather so much people that without your ayde we be in danger to fall into their mercie a thing that shall be of greate consequence seing that we be as ye know the frontier and rampier of you all Therefore we praye you and admonishe you in our Gods that as well for the defence of our Lawe as for the vtilitie of all the countrey of the East ye assemble your strength in so greate a number that we maye chase and driue awaye these Christians from our borders and conquer the Empire of Constantinople vnto the partes of Fraunce and Englande the which shall be vnto vs easy and profitable Esplandians letter to the Emperour of Rome shewing hym of the great armie of the infidell potestates sent and prepared to destroy the Christians and that for this cause he must giue help to a thing of so great importance In the same booke the 47. Chapter MY Lord the danger that I sâ—e prepared for all christendome doth coÌ„strayn me to send Enil vnto you by whom ye may vnderstand at length the greate streÌ„gth and puissant armie that all the kings and potentates of the East the enimies of our fayth haue prepared at the persuasion of Armato king of Turkie to come to destroy not onely the Empire of Greece but to presse further vntill they haue cleane extermined and quenched our fayth and beléefe And for asmuch as they whose place and roome ye hold haue bin euermore the true defenders and protectors of our Religion and also bycause the case doth touch you so nigh I thinke my Lorde that ye shoulde spare nothing that is in your might and power but assemble your fores in all extremitie and prepare your vassals to help that good prince the which is the borderer as ye know to you and to all the potentates that hold of the law of Iesu Christ. I haue written likewise to the king my father and to the moste parte of all other Christian Lordes vnto whome I sende Gandalin And bycause I haue charged Enil to shewe you the rest I wyll sende you no longer letter but praye you to beléeue hym as my selfe An iniurious letter of Rodrigue the great Soudan of Liquie to the knight of the great SerpeÌ„t threatning him for his enterprise
vnto you that I speake not without reason ye shall vnderstande that the great God Iupiter Mars appeered one of these nights past to your good Prince Zair wherof the euill doth come that noth hold trouble him And they haue threatned him verie sore reproued him seing they called him not to such a highnesse to let the faith of the christians to increase and not to â—are for that in the which he liued And bicause he would not wholly fall into their indignation bad to commaund you incontinently to enterprise the conquest of Trebisonde or else that we and he should be so well chastened that prouing the rigorousnesse of fortune we should come late to repentance Thus if we will obey them executing their holy will we shall be sure of the victorie and Zair shall mary Onoloria the Emperours daughter of whom I spake vnto you of these two shal come so complet a knight that the sunne is not brighter among the starres than his renoume shal be from the Orient to the Occident among men And this is Princes and Lordes the cause for the which the Soudan your soueraigne King hath caused him to be called for this day purposing as touching his part not to shewe himself any other than most humble and most obedient to gods will trusting that of your parte ye wil not be tardife in so good a worke but cause your high valiantnesse and chiualrie that is in you to be knowne throughout all the world ye shall follow that is predestinate vnto you of the which I may beare witnesse for althoughe I be but a woman yet should I be very displeasant that so glorious an enterprise should passe out of my presence sighte Thus honourable Princes make ye together a resolution vpon this that your king intended to shew you with his own mouth if the euill that he féeleth had not forbydden and letted him to speake purposing wholly to ensue and follow the inspiration of Iupiter and your good aduise trusting in the faithfulnesse zeale that euery one of you hath as I thinke to the encreasement of his honour the which shall be your wealth and aduancement A letter from Abra in the name of Zair hir brother Soudan of Babylon to the Infant Onoloria of whom being very amorous he laboureth to haue hir good grace and fauour In the .8 booke the .7 Chapter MAdam I pray you as much as is possible reading thys letter to consider howe Zair the Soudan of Babilon the king of the Pagan Princes and the most mightie Monarch that is this day vpon the earth doth finde himselfe so beaten with the arrowes of the god of loue the which being enforced fréely to declare vnto you the paine that he indureth to be yours hath coÌ„ceiued this boldnesse to write this word vnto you to cause you to vnderstand that the seruitude that he beareth was diuinely motioned and by the inspiration of Venus sonne the which appearing one night among all other to me represented to me the excellencie of your beautie so liuely that he woulde me the ruler and Lorde of Lordes and that all my lyfe haue béene frée and withoute subiection to become seruaunt and slaue of your good grace the which thing I require you most humblye not to denie mée but waying the greatnesse of my estate and the noble bloude whereof I take my beginning to vse me as I deserue assuring you Madame that hauyng this fauour I shall estéeme it more than if the rest of the whole worlde toke me for theyr naturall Lord and yet more if I myghte receiue some Iuell or some sleue of you to weare ending the combattes that I haue set forth to vpholde your perfecte beautie the which far passeth all the most excellent that hath bene or maye be for euer kissing for the ouerplus a thousand and a thousande times your diuine and white handes with all reuerence The Oration of Abra Zair sister to the Infant Onoleria expouÌ„dyng vnto hir the vehemente loue that hir brother do the beare hir the whyche oughte to moue hir sweetely to intreate hym and to take pitie of his torment In the eyghte booke the .7 Chapter I Maruell Madam how it is possible that with so great beutie and wisedome that is in you rigour and disdaine maye haue any parte Ye haue as I haue vnderstanded slenderly regarded the letter that the Soudan my brother hath writteÌ„ vnto you and the euill that he suffereth in louing you so perfectly as he hath certified you I pray you for gods sake to coÌ„sider that his life if ye vse long such crueltie towards him will be short and that ye shall leese in léesing of him the best and the most affectionated seruant that euer ye shall get and me also the which hath merited more greater punishmente for the wrong that he hath done you in louing you if it may be cald wrong than you him for why he neuer thought but to obey and to please you and I for to find some remedy for his vnmeasurable passion the which hath bin the cause why I haue sent you by one of my women the thing that hathe somewhat better as she hath reported to me contented you The answer of Onoleria to Abra Zairs sister reprouing hir of hir foolish enterprise and that if hir brother make any further suite she will cause it to be reuenged In the .8 booke the .7 Chapter I Thinke Madame that it shoulde sufficiently ynough haue suffised you that ye haue done already without charging me a new and so that if I haue had some occasion of griefe or anoyance against your brother to haue bin on my part too much forgetfull Now where ye thinke to excuse him ye accuse him the more and do cause me to thinke that ye doubt that I féele not my self to be the daughter of so great an Emperoure and to be extract and to come of suche bloud that I had rather neuer to haue bin than for any thing to defile the least part of my honour And therfore assure him that causeth you to vse such wordes that I if he continue in this foolishe suite and you in your importunitie shall aduertise suche a one that in aduenging me shall complayne of you and of him euen as ye merit and deserue The Oration of the knight Birmâ—rtes to the Emperoure of Trebisond wherein he aduertiseth him of the will that he hath to fyght in the honor and fauor of my Lady Oriane whome he esteemeth the most perfect in all things that is in the rest of the world In the .8 booke the .9 Chapter RIght mightie and excellent prince the representation that I beare of hir that hath not hir péere in perfect beutie doth remoue the fault from me that I might haue receyued not doing at my comming the honor and reuerence vnto you that your highnesse merited And for to declare the cause that moued me to come to this your court ye shall vnderstand sir that I
there And for this cause and occasion we bring in these vessels the excelleÌ„t Quéene of Caucase by whose meanes our enterprise toke place Nor I will not denie that I haue offended you but I trust so much in your fatherly goodnesse that forgotting my faulte considering to whom I haue vowed my selfe ye will pardon me the which thing I require of you with all reuerence Your most humble and most obedient daughter Niquea Amadis of Greece letter to the Soudan of Niquea declaring vnto him the meane of the mariage of him and his daughter praying if he finde himselfe offended to excuse hir and to pardon him In the .8 booke the .84 Chapter SYr the loue that might haue solicited you in your youthe after shall put you sufficiently in remembrance in what paine and little ease they do liue that are ouercome with the passion that I haue séene you suffer waiting for the ioyfull hope of you Nereida and it shall be if it please you to excuse the fault that I haue coÌ„mitted against you aswell for deceiuing you vnder the name and habite whiche was borowed as making the mariage of my Ladie your daughter and me whereof yet ye should not be miscontented with me considering the beauties the perfections wherwith she is indewed from heauen and the iust occasion that I by your selfe haue had to chose hir to my wife and suche a louer as she is to me yet for all that syr if ye finde your selfe in this or otherwise offended I pray you most humbly to blame loue only and to pardon vs both seyng that the noble bloude of Niquea can receiue but glorie and honour by the aliance and kindred that from henceforth it shal haue both of that of Fraunce of Constantinople and of Trebisonde of the which I am descended principall heire And for this cause we goe presently towards the Emperour my father that shall receiue my lady your daughter so well that it shall be a pleasure for you to vnderstande it and to me a sure contentation Trusting syr as touching the rest to be from henceforth such as concerning your selfe that ye shall haue a great cause for this respect to finde al that is past good and reasonable vnto this day that we kisse your hands in all humilitie Your most humble and most obedient sonne Amadis of Greece The Oration of Lisuard to Abra Axiana and other exhorting them to peace and perpetuall amitie In the .8 booke the 90. Chapter VErtuous princesse you excelleÌ„t Ladies ye haue séene and sufficiently ynough perceiued what issue this warre hath had that was begon long since ye know also as wel as we the occasion why it was enterprised and afterwardes sharpned and made worsse and nowe that the affaires be in hand as ye may know and consider it séemeth to vs iust and reasonable seing it hath pleased God the creator to lend vs so faire a victory to assay and proue to make peace and amitie where warre and discord hath had vigure and strength so long time And to come to this after long and ripe deliberation of counsel we are of this aduice mind and do ordeine that you madame Abra shall leaue to my Lady Axiana the Empyre of Babilon euen as she and Zarafiell of good and famous memorie held it and possest it and that ye should peasably enioy al the rest notwithstanding it was conquered by the vertuous and sage Prince Zair or any otherwise The peace remayning perpetually betwéene you two the thyng shall be so well parted and deuided that ye shal haue greatly and abundantly wherewithall to entertayne your estates and to content you And to the intent quoth he to Abra the yoÌ„g infants and princes which haue accompanied you may be partakers of the pleasure of this amitie and confederation we wil marrie them worthily and so that they shal haue great occasion to thanke vs And this for a resolutioÌ„ of that that we toke deliberation of to certifye you and to declare in so high and to so great assemblie praying you both to find oure aduice and counselll good and as it is reasonable for the wealth and highnesse of the one and the other to follow it For as concerning vs we wyll holde vs onely to the honoure that it hathe pleased GOD to graunte vs withoute vsurping or taking of any thyng vpon those that are ouercome whether it be by raunsome in money in lands or possessions An elegant and a pitifull Epistle of Lucell Princesse of Sicilie to Amadis of Grece charging him of vnfaithfulnesse of leafings and of temeritie In the .8 booke the .93 Chapter I Cannot tell by what occasion thou false and vnfaythfull Amadis I haue taken ynke and paper to write to thée this Letter if it be not vpon the hope I haue that ye shall not so soone sée it but that the wrong that ye haue done me shall cause you to waxe redde for shame and that remorse of conscience shall prepare in you such heauinesse that there shall not bée one day of all your lyfe but that thing the which yée haue purchased for me so cursedly shall displease you and in such sort that ye shall receyue part of the punishment that ye deserue betraying me so falsely for louing you so well and faythfully Truely when I thinke of the thing that is â—haunted I surely thinke that I dreame or to be out of my witte But alas to whome shall I go Is it possible that yée bé◠the Knight of the burning Sworde that ouercame the seuen kéepers of the Castell and that did rule and tame the strong Gyantes of the Isle of Silenchiâ— and of whome the renowne is this day so cleare both in the East and in the West Truely it shoulde bée harde to thinke it for where that promise and chiualrie is so commended full vneasily there maye bée resident a heart so cruell and so full of lyes as yours hath shewed it selfe vnto mée abusing and deceyâ—ing mée vnder the colour of amitie and the assuraunce of maryage to sette and bring you to the place where I truste that repentance shall bée the executour of my vengeance But what I féele nowe that ye are farre from honour and vertue that hitherto yée are not ashamed of the thing that maye bée sayde vnto you and whereof â—ée maye bée reproched so that it maye beare good wytnesse of the iniurie that ye haue done to your selfe chaungâ—ng so famous a name to take that with the habite and rayment of a woman verie vnméete and vncomely for those that will shewe the estate of magnanimitie and highnesse Alas when the fidelitie of your Grandfather the good King Amadis dothe present him before my eyes the proofe that hée did that daye when he wanne the gréene Sworde and Quéene Oriane the Kercher none lyke it the entering and comming foorth of the one and other vnder the Arke of faythfull Louers the glorye that youre father Lisuarde receyued by the hâ—â—mâ—tte
Damselles the good subtiltie that ye haue vsed to finde â— mâ—â—nes for the deliueraÌ„ce of Doâ— Floâ—isâ—lâ— the which is fallen into the handes of the Princesse Arlande of Thrace a thing that ought to make you immortall for euer seeing the danger that ye put your selfe in to shewe so perfect amitie And to shewe you truly what we doe thinke we fynd the acts that ye haue done and doe so excellente and noble that by good reason all the worlde shoulde wishe for suche a personage as was the Grecian Homere to describe your high and heroicall actes to giue an ensample to the posteritie and to intiâ—e them to ensue the lyke Great Alexander néedeth not to goe before you nor Anniball nor yet the Scipions for if they haue had great victories it hath hene with the multitude of men but you alone haue wonne so muche that yée ought to holde and kéepe the hyghest roome not onely among the wyse and valiant men but also among the women more noble All the hygh acts of armes that the noble Quéen Gradafilea did ought in nothing to be compared to yours for al that she euer did was through the force of loue whiche is inuincible and to conserue hir integritie but ye were only moued by a certaine naturall and natiue vertue to doe him good whom ye in no maner of wise knowe not and not to him onely but to all those vnto whom ye perceyued iniurie and extortion to be doone the glorie and the laude whereof redoundeth vnto you Certainly the faire and chaste Iudith that cut cruell Holofâ—rneâ— head off to obserue and kéepe hir chastitie nor Cleopatra that ouercame hir brother Ptolome nor Quéene Fantasâ—lea with many other ought in no wyse to be compared or made equall wyth you which dothe not onely excell all menne and women in vertue and valiantnesse but also in excellence and perfecte beautie exceptyng none nor thys fayre Syluia the whyche as wée haue vnderstanded ye preserued from cruell death when shée woulde haue slayne hir selfe nyghe vnto the Fountayn of loues of Anasterax â— for the absence of Dom Florisell the whyche is bounde vnto you all hys lyfe long and I also for the goodnesse that ye haue doone for me in sauyng of him Notwithstandyng truely as I thynke hée shoulde not séeing the promise that he made me at his departing from hence to be in Apolonia at the aduenture of the contention of the foure brethren haue strayed nor haue cast himselfe into so many ieopardous aduentures without sending mée newes of him yet I will not wryte vnto him least that presenting my fynger vnto him hée take the whole hands considering that his comming hyther shall certifie vs of his béeing so farre off and of his so grieuous absence so that it please you of your goodnesse to suffer him to returne vnto whome you and I are so much bounde for the goodnesse that we haue receyued of him that it is impossible for vs to satisfie him nor you to giue him condigne thankes But Madame we shall pray the Creator to giue you such and so good peace as we desire for the warre that doth torment vs presenting our most humble recommendations to your good Grace Your great friendes and readie to obey you Helen of Apoloniâ— and Tymbria of Boetia The defence of Raison vpon the difference of honour and loue In the .9 booke the .53 Chapter HOnour and you loue it greatly displeaseth me that yée cannot agrée as touching the health of these two armies yet forasmuche as the poynte and the truth of your rightes cannot be knowne but by the effusion of humaine bloude or by the victorie of one of these two armies the issue wherof â—oth depend of the will of God I can giue you no other counsel but to let your men ioyne to the ende that the vengeance and iudgement of God maye be vmpere and arbiter of your difference and debates A propheticall letter of Anaxenes a Philosopher and a calker to Dom Florisel of Niquea In the .9 booke the .54 Chapter MY Lorde the king Arpilion and the Quéene Galathea his verie deare companion and spouse haue charged me to present with a verie good heart their recommendations vnto your good grace and I of my part do no lesse which am theyr Philosopher and a master of arte Magicke Understand my Lordâ— that the goodnesse and valiantnesse which I know to be in you haue prouoked me to aduertise you oâ— certaine great adueâ—tures that shal chaunce vnto you the which I haue foreséene and knowne by my science learning and by the high secrets of arte Magicke and to the intent ye may auoyde and escape them with your honour I send you the helmet that yâ— lost in the sea when that by tempest ye were separated from Siluia the which shall doe you good seruice in a combat that two braue Lions shall make yea for the price of your bloud and there shall come forth of those that fight a light that now is hidden in déepe darknesse the which shall giue light to all those that thought to haue lost it and so well that your â—ead being deliuered from the perill the whiche ye shall sée before your eyes men shall sée an olde wounde renued in you the which shall put you to extreme paine and yet cannot be eased vntill this soueraine remedie shal be multiplied in you and in all those that shall sustaine your part shal be newe woundes whereout shall come a bloud that shall moyst all the lande of Grece by the meanes whereof your body shall be deliuered by a general effusion vntil the payment be perfit Nor the prince the Author of this warre nor his friendes nor confederates shall haue it no better cheape than you aduertising you that the tyme of moste greatest daunger wherein ye maye hée shall be euen then when that the Lion whiche ingendereth the lawfull and legitimate Lions shall finde him selfe in more perill than you And a little whyle after there shall come euen sodainly a Bastarde the which shall beat downe with his brighte and shining armes the glorie not hoped for Then shall arise the sixe bastards and little Lyons the which shall awake their fathers by a more strange fashion than the Lyons progenitours haue giuen lyfe to their little ones and all that with encreasement of your great honour and the inestimable effusion of bloud on the one syde and other Therfore take good héede at the beginning of this euill whereof ye shall haue cause to laude him continually that is laudable aboue all things by whose permission and sufferance all this shall be doone and ye shall daylye holde his diuine hande in your defence Therefore doubte not at all for all thing shall chaunce as I haue tolde you praying you not to be curious to knowe more vntill the soueraigne iudge shall haue executed his determination and will to shewe you a warre whereof peace shall procéede And in this behalf I shal pray
onely of the councell that may be giuen you to the contrarie whether it be to turne you wholy or at the least to slacke your diligence that is required in this businesse by the occasion of the auncient amitie that ye haue continually with the Princes of Grece a thing that shoulde turne me to an inestimable losse if it shoulde be prolonged séeing that the aray and the furniture wherevnto ye sée that I am set the which to me should be vnprofitable if it be not strengthned and augmented by yours And therefore sir and ye Princes Barons Capitaynes and souldiours Apolloniens ought not to maruell that I so vrgently doe solicite you to this enterprise and lesse to refuse my request being of such consequence for you that thinking to reiect it as mine ye shall finde it as muche contrarie to your selues Who is he that can say that this outrage hath not béene done as much to you as to me As touching my part I am disposed to vengeance in the which if I do not content my desire in the satisfaction of my honour in as much as Fortune is not content I will turne vpon my selfe the rest of the force and strength not as a subiect to serue hir any more in any newe crueltie For this cause Sir and you other Lordes Apolloniens I pray you moste humblie and verie effectuously that ye will in this behalfe employe and shewe your force and strength and the strength of youre friendes and allyes to be ioyned vnto mine to appoynt and prepare such a power and might agaynst the Princes Constantines that if willingly they will not make amendes for this wrong and iniurie we may be sufficient to execute the thing vpon them and to enforce them to reason Here I make ende of my demaunde not dooing it after my first intention whether it be as concerning the vengeance to giue or to take The Prince Birmates spâ—â—king for â—hem all doth answerâ— bycidor shewing him that warre ought not to haue a 〈…〉 beginning and he counselleth him to sende a letter to Dom Florisell and to dissuade the combate betweene them twoâ— In the .10 booke the .5 Chapter MY Lorde Lucidor séeing that the good pleasure of the king my Lorde and father and the Lordes assisting do charge me with the answere that they intende shall be made you I will briefly shew you the thing and what they thinke in this matter remitting yet my will and resolution to yours In the first place I confesse vnto you that we haue a common interâ—st with you in the issue of this câ—use the which in condition is nothing different or vnlike to that that was begun among the Greekes and the Troians for the rape of their fayre Helen of whome I am extremely diâ—pleâ—sed that my daughter beareth the name and effect of the seconde I will not denie any more the auncient amitie that I haue with the Princes of Gâ—â—â—ce if it be so that the ballance of my iudgement be not of suche waight that the respect of my honor of my daughters doth not fall nor decay the which Iestéeme ought to be bought againe with what pryce so euer it maye bee as well of the goodes as of the person Yet the affayres of such importance requyre their beginning to be diligenâ—ly consulted and debated for feare least the ende shoulde-euill succéede referning such diligent regarde that their Princes and men may be discharged before God and principally their subiectes in case that fortune turne contrarie to their â—stimation She hath somwhat a regarde to things that are agaynst my owne taste for leauing of all passions as men shoulde doe in matters of counsell I estéeme that in this enterprise wée â—ouche and laye the totall and whole summe of our estates and treasures in the hande of Fortune without assurance to come to anye other reparation pretended than of oure owne righte the whiche as subiecte to the inconstancie and variablenesse of the variable and wauering Goddesse hath oftentimes néede of helpe The Princes of Greece had good right against the citie of Troy the whiche that notwithstanding did sustaine their siege and assaulte the space of tenne yéere and had sustayned it peraduenture vnto the ende sauing for the treason so craftily pretensed and so valiantly executed But lette vs leaue a parte the great effusion of bloud that I sée prepared let vs onely consider what issue it shall haue for in very déede the effect of armes is almost vpoÌ„ fortune nor neuer grounde in any suretis therfore we must descende specially to the conseruation of our honour Touching the which notwithstanding that it hath bene offended by the taking away of Helen it may be that greater reason shal be shewed vs for the satisfactioÌ„ of our iniurie than we hope after that the partie shall haue well perceyued and discussed the grounde of our complaint Upon the which men can giue no lawfull iudgement before they heare the deduction of both parties Therefore let vs take héede to procéede by ripe deliberation fearing least we repent vs to much by leasure of our foolish precipitation and hastinesse for this cause we are thus minded my Lord Lucidor that or euer ye procéede any further ye should shew your minde and intention by writing to Prince Florisel summoning him for the reparation of the outrageous iniurie for through his refuse ye shall make our cause a great deale the better TheÌ„ without any difficultie ye may denounce mortall warre with fire and bloud vnto the accomplishment and fulfilling of the vengeaunce and as concerning the combat of your person with his I am not of that opinion for asmuch as the déede of so generall offence should not be charged nor layde vpon the shoulders of any one slone the whiche lesing the rest of the pursute should as touching other remayne without amenyment Not that I will in this reuoke in any doubte the valure of your person â—ut bicause the fauour of Mars is vncertain and common in the which a man should not put his confidence of a thing of suche importaunce without he had his promisse by signe and seale autentike This is it wherunto the Kinges ech one this assistence doth tende to tary the answere that the Prince Florisel shall make vnto the Ambassadours sent by you for to take thereby the fundation of our finall resolution In the meane space not to require nor yet to put our fréendes to payne of whome we shoulde desire succour in these affayres vntill we may shew them more than dutie vnto whome wée shal be sent to search for peace and to auoyde the horrible furie of the warre the whiche thing shall furthermore encourage them to take armour and to fight for vs against a common enimie for right equitie peace and quietnesse of the people bâ—sides that the losse of so litle time cannot be preiudiciall vnto you in the expedition of suche a consequence the order and preparation whereof requireth a longer time least
that we for our sodaine enterprise incurre to late repentance Lucidor the vengeor writyng to Prince Florisel of Niquea dothe pray him to declare the cause of the rauishment of his wife finally he settyng his honour before his eyes dothe counsell him to restore hir agayne of in refusing thereof he denounceth him mortall warre In the .10 booke the .5 Chapter MY Lord Florisel Lucidor the vengeor the naturall prince of France and of Apollonie by aliance dothe pray God so to inspire you that ye may know the faulte that ye haue committed against me and to repaire and amende it as right and reason coÌ„maundeth The thing that hath moued me to write this letter vnto you is that I your errour beyng knowen and the amendes made may remayne with you in such peace and amitie as two Christen Princes of such highnesse as we â—e ought to employ our common forces and strength against the Infidels I desire greatly to know what excuse ye shall sinde for the great wrong that yée haue done me and to your selfe as I may say in violating my Kingly estate and likewise the amitie that ye owe to the father of my spouse praying you that ye will wryte it vnto me by parcell meanes to the ende I may consider that it be sufficient to accomplish the satisfaction on your parte in my behalfe for if I with your good will cannot haue it I must be constrayned to take it with the edge of the sworde by the way of armes betwene you and me onely vnto the vtterance of your life or mine I maruell me much that your vertue so wel knowen here in so glorious actes is so forgetfull through a disorbinate appetite of vnbrideled youth to declare it selfe so great an enimie of reason specially of the peace inuiolable that your Fathers and predecessours haue alwaies entertained with the pareÌ„ts of my spouse assuring you that with great payne ye shall washe you of so great a spotte with all the water of the Sea for your estate was bounde to resist this vile acte nor doing the thing that ye would not that he that is of your qualitie should doe to you of â—he which ye cannot discharge you neither to God nor man By the meanes whereof although I had good right to make warre vpon you as a defiler of my wife and of hir owne proper fayth so it is yet that hauing God before mine eyes and the businesses of the Christian common weale in recommendation I woulde haue inuited you to haue she woe and done me right of your selfe considering that the lawes as touching themselues do kind Princes that by this meanes men might auoyde one so cruel warre as I sée to be prepared and no lesse than your predecessours had before Troy the whiche God thorough his grace turne from vs by the meanes of your iust satisfaction And in case no I protest to make you suche warre that one of vs shall remayne in gage Florisel of Niquea dothe answere Lucidors letter excusing himselfe of the accusations layde agaynst him submitting him to the iudgement of his parents or otherwise he is appoynted to defend him In the .10 booke the .6 Chapter LOrd Lucidor I maruell me of this proude surname that yée occupy causing your selfe to be named the Uengeor knowyng or else ye should know that suche a title dothe not pertayne but to God only And particularly to answere to the articles of your letter the which that Crie of Armignac your ambassafor hath presented vnto me I say that ye your selfe are bounde to satisfie for the presumptuous woordes ye haue vsed against me and Helen my spouse And as touchyng that yée say how that the excuse is not sufficient that loue hath ledde conducted me to that faulte inferring that a person of estate as you and I shoulde not coÌ„mit so filthy déedes I say that the excellent beautie of my Lady Helen ioyning thereunto the parentage and place whereout shée is issued haue bound mée to such noble thoughts dayly drawing me out of my self continually giuing héede to the honest loue that I bare hir vnder the pure lawe of Mariage the which ought to discharge me and to deface the faulte that ye lay vnto me of the whiche I in no wise féele my selfe reprehensible if that faulte were not that I made hir parents leading hir away without their consent a thing that greatly displeaseth me for the loue of them vnto whom in this respect I was bound much To this wher ye say that I depriue my selfe of the thing that good renounâ—e hath alwayes graunted mée I mayntayne that I in nothing haue violated nor yet diminished it but truâ—â— that the thing whiche I haue done in this case shall fall and come forth so the augmentation of my great glorie Also the Princes of Greece are accustomed and wonte to kéepe the poynt of honour and to reuenge the outrages that men enterprise to doe vnto them And nowe the Empyre is ruled by those whiche are more stoute of minde and more warlike than euer it had it is not ready to fall from the degrée of his auncient reputation And as touchyng you if yée will vnderstande reason ye should departe from this quarell seyng that Helen is my wife and that the déede is irreuocable but for the reparation and satisfaction to you wardes my Lordes and parents haue concluded to giue you another lady of great highnesse beautie and richesse such a one as by reason ye shoulde content your selfe withall if not let it suffise you to remit the déede to the discretion of your parentes and mine and of my wiues promising you to condescende to euerie reasonable and honesâ— condition towardes the Prince Birmates and the King of Apolonia Otherwise I protest before God to defend my iust cause as long as my soule shal breath in my body praying you lord Lucidor for amitie sake to haue and to take a regarde to the doubtful and vncertaine ende of battels and to the great number of friendes of Greece besides the number of vassalles not comprehending the murders that this enorme title of Vengeance the which ye vnder the diuine power doe vsurpe shall stirre vp against you Lucidor of Vengeance letters to Zahara Queene of Caucase demaunding of hirayde and succor against Florisel of Niquea In the .10 booke the .6 Chapter MAdame I being come not long since that Florisel of Niquea enterprised vpon the aliance made against me and Princesse Helen of Apolonia he hath indecently and violently rauished hir from me I coulde bethinke me then of no better recourse thaÌ„ of your excellence in that of your noble sonne and daughter to obtaine helpe succor to reuenge the wrong and shame that he hath purchased me the which if ye wil not grauÌ„t me notwithstanding any amitie that may be betwéen you or his I pray you to haue a more regarde to the diuinitie whereof ye are participant that doth binde you to doe iustice in earth to
neuer thinke such a fault and féeblenesse of heart to bée in you that any one of you shoulde not desire to reuenge himselfe vpon his enimie and to sell his skinne dearly Wel it is conuenient for vs a little to dissemble our heauinesse and take pacience perforce and not to discourage the other Yée may beléeue mée that the greatest parte of the annoyance doth rest in my brayne but I inclose it to open and manifestly to open it doubled perforce when tyme and season shall giue me occasion Therefore I commaunde you all to go and to rest your selues a whyle that as soone as the fayre Diana or Moone shall arise setting you in traine and order to go and to inuade our enimies euerye man taking a white shirt vpon his harnesse for euery one of vs to knowe eche other assuring you that the ioy which they had through oure losse may cause them to be negligent by the meanes whereof we maye giue them so strayte a hande that they shall thinke thereof And this shall be a demonstration that oure little companie hath not a faynte heart agaynst so greate an hoste séeing that oure execution of vengeance hath no care for the trauell and payne receyued As touching me my friends although I haue bin hurt like as other I féele not these woundes so much as that the which I haue in my hart of despite and euill will beléeuing asmuch of other and that diuers of you which are not deadly wounded shall not leaue to come to this camisado the which I woulde should be two houres after midnight and as secretly as may be for feare of waking of our enimies but to rocke them so well that they shall sléepe for euer The which thing I estéeme to be easie considering the great chéere that ye made yester euen and the small watch that they shall make trusting in your misfortune A complaynt of Amadis of Greece being in the desert of Lions lamenting his Lucell whom he had forsaken to take Niquea In the .10 booke the .37 Chapter O Force that dost force me against my owne wil to breake the fayth and fidelitie that I should rather kéepe but yet thou hast made me in changing of my selfe to change it Truly my payne is greatly redoubted for the good thing that doth me so much euill O gentle Lucell what is this to say that when your beautie was wont to torment my hearte through a mortall desire I enticed of good hope did beare it paciently but now that I haue it no more alas I suffer an euill not to be borne Alas hope was wont to maintaine my life in thy absence what doth now sustayne it it must néedes be that there be some hope against hope to deliuer me a more gréeuous punishment for my vnfaithfulnesse the which doth banish me from the presence of hir whose inestimable vertue did promis me some pitie but I my selfe am contrary to my selfâ— so that I cannot haue repentance to require your pardon for my falsed fayth when I remember my déere Nequea of whome I haue receiued so great glory and contentation O death now make an end of my life to finish my trauell and thou life entertayne me no more to cause my lanlonger to endure O ye waues of the Sea why haue ye not swallowed me now of late into your déepe bottomes to exempt and to take me from this soo horrible tormeÌ„t O fountaine beholding that of his cauerne thou art fortunate making thy ordinarie course and my eyes vnfortunate distilling continually by vnnaturall constraint Thy fresh licor doth take from me the heate that is come from the common sunne but the fier that Lucell my very sunne doth cause no water can quench but one pitifull teare by hir sprinkled vppon me Niquea Niquea thou dost owe me the pardon of this offence whereof thou hast forgotten the obligation of my â—irst loues Lucelle Lucelle reioice your self now that the time is come that ye shall haue vengeance of youre vnfaithfull knight of the burning sword with satisfaction of the faulte that his sonne might haue done against your brother Anaxartes doth pitifully shew princesse Oriana that the fier of loue whiche hath inflamed him through hir beautie will reduce him to ashes if she take no pitie In the .10 booke the 41. Chapter I Besech you madame to excuse my boldnesse that I take to discouer vnto you the martirdome that I suffer for your excellence and so muche the more it gréeueth me that I kepe it close and couert for what soeuer reuerence I beare to your highnes the strength of loue is so vehement that my reason can no longer resiste and to cause you to perceiue it well it is suche that I for the extremitie of the violence thereof cannot tell it but that I through it do féele in me as it were in a litle world after the saying of auncient wise men all the diuers passions of the elements Alas my poore eyes do well shewe and declare the running waters of the sea in my continuall teares and my déepe sighes do flie as the winds in the ayre and are moued by the heate of fier hidden in my hearte the which without your pitie shal turne all my body into drye earth and ashes A sweete and an honest answer of princesse Oriana to Anaxartes In the .10 booke the .41 Chapter MY Lord the place that ye hold such as we know dothe gyue you a law to speake priuily vnto me but of the affection the which ye would declare vnto me ye shall pardon me if I be purposed to beleeue the thing that I may iudge by effect more than by wordes the which may easily be disguised notwithstanding I shall iudge that princesse fortunate vnto whome God shall giue a knyght that aboundeth with great vertue whome I estéeme and honoure in you after his merite The Quene Sidonia doeth declare to Phalanges of Astre the cause of the lawe that she hathe established and she requireth him to marie hir In the .10 booke the .44 Chapter IF the excellente Ladies of Rome and Greece haue in tymes pasâ—e offered themselues in sacrifice to conserue and keepe their virginitie and to obtayne by suche deathe immortall glorie there is no lesse reason in the lawe as by me in thys Isle constituted and established for the conseruation of my daughters chastitie and myne preseruing them from diuers abuses that men threaten them withall to drawe them to theyr vncleane affections by efficace promises and perswasions by the meanes whereof the fyre of loue by semblable and lyke nature dothe embrace the heartes of them Therefore I haue onely reserued libertie to maidens to choose their husbands and to knyghts to choose them wiues and I haue submitted my selfe to the Law and to vse it after my desire and for the wealth of my realme the whiche is in my power to giue to whom it shall please mee as husbande and wyfe The which thing I doe to you knight taking
the gentle bastardes chéered of the father the which was so long vnknowen Thus came all these Lordes and Ladies into oure companie also the Princesse Oriana that was met withall vpon the sea and by a strange aduenture deliuered They honoured me for this presente Embassade There resteth nowe that I must returne vnto them to deliuer them into your handes to verifie my worde withall Phalanges dothe require of the Lordes and Ladyes beyng in Constantinople that Alastraxeree whome he hath loued long may be gyuen him in mariage In the tenth booke the 57â— Chapter RIght high mightie Lords the boldnesse of my thoughts the which heretofore haue ben giueÌ„ to a presumptuous diuinitie doth not abase hir wings knowing it to be turned into humaine linage exalted by heroike noble vertue aboue mortal fragilitie Also I faint not to attempt hir as before by the meanes of the aide that I newly finde in your maiesties by the reknowledging of hir kindred vnto whoÌ„ I haue long since vowed my heart my honour and my goods The which if ye iudge that I neuer deserued nothing of you and if ye estéeme not to much vnworthy to haue hir is the gentle Princesse Alastraxeree whom I require to my true and loyall spouse first suÌ„moning in this case the Prince Florisel to quite him towardes me for the duetie of mutuall loue giuing me like comfort and succor as he hath receiued of me as he well knoweth in his affaires A letter of credence of the Princesse Arlande In the .10 booke the .58 Chapter ARlande of Thrace disherited of hir landes bicause she made him heritor of hir hearte that had the propertie of hir libertie so greatly alienated that she can accept no part in his to Florisel of Niquea Prince of Fraunce Englande Apolonia and Rhodes salutatioÌ„ Fortune hath in such wise conspired against me that she hath giuen me no other ynke to write withal but bloud nor no other messenger but a childe nor hath sent me no succour but against the sonne of my mortall enemie for my brothers sake and yet more than this mortall enimie bicause I cannot be my owne friende Loke vpon me ye ladies that doe complaine you of the light turnes of hir customable inconstancie and take an example to hope in desperation She hath not left me as much as my surname the whiche I haue borowed bicause I would not too much astonishe you in the firste sight of the superscription of my letter missiue or in the salutation the whiche shée maie yll sende that hathe of long time hir heart captiue and afflicted as ye well knowe and not long since the body in prison I haue no great leisure with my hande to send my complaintes when that with my mouth I cannot cause them to be vnderstranded Praying you for the rest on my part to beleue this Damsell as reason would on your behalfe â—lorarâ—am doth count to Florisell of Niquea and to the other nobles being at Constantinople the cause of his comming and the imprisonment of the princesse of Thrace In the .10 booke the .58 Chapter MY Lorde the case is this In the time that my Lady had left you in the Isle of Rhodes and was at hir returning in my masters the kings Court she founde there the Duke Madasanill the tyrant of the next Ilandes a fierce Giant great and maruellous mightie accompanied with foure hundred of his cousins like vnto himselfe all they being issued of the linage of Furius Cornelius calling themselues the reuengers of his bloud This Duke required of the king a wife vnder the conditions of the vengeance that be vndertooke vpon Prince Amadis of Gâ—eâ—e for whome I was nourished and instructed if the obligation that came afterwardes had not defaced this cruell enmitie by the meanes of the succour that the Prince gaue him in his extreme businesse whom I loued and honoured and yet knew him not and was desirous with all my heart to serue him But the king perceyuing the newe reconciliation of my Ladie with him that had slaine his brother he deliuered hir quickly into the Dukes handes commaunding him to marrie hir He was euen then readie with the Duchesse Arhide whom he reteyned to come to your marriage Then hearing she should be sent to such other she answered the king beléeue not my Lorde that the trespasse and fault that I haue done to my highnesse in that I could not resist the strength of the loue of the sonne now I make it to the father assuring you that I will neuer haue other husbande than the sonne nor no greater enimie than him that shall purchase euill to the father vnto whome I haue sworne and giuen my fayth of peace and concorde The king was so irrited and chafed with hir answere that euen vpon the fielde he did disherite hir and caused an othe to be giuen to Madasanill the Prince of Thrace setting my Ladie in his power to lodge hir incontinently in the fortresse of the lake of foure pauements the which as men doe estéeme is one of the strongest places of the worlde So he gaue him the charge of hir and of the foure Pauementes to the Giantes his cousins commaunding them to keepe hir in prison a whole yeare if she applyed not hir will vnto him The which if she did not within the terme appoynted he woulde that hir head should be smitten off for the appoyntment that shée had made of his brother The fierce villaine fayled not to fulfill this ordenance moste diligently leading my Ladie wéeping and sobbing to the Castell where he enclosed hir alone with hir cousin Arlinda deliuering the keyes of the prison to a great and a vile Iayler reseruing the comming into the selfe same Castell to himselfe his cousins being established in the foure Pauements the which cause all those to sweare that come thither to be at the vengeance of the death of Furio if not that he will thrust them into déepe and cruell prisons At night they shutte in the Gates of their Pauements and by Caues made vnder the grounde they returne to the Castell béeing distant from the Laake two shottes of a Crossebowe of the which the Duke himselfe doth open and sparre the Gates Well I followed themâ— into the Castell where they suffered me â—o walke at my case but I enforced through sorrowe to sée hir in such estate not knowing howe to remedie it One day she putting out hir head at a little lattis window saw me beneath and sayde vnto me Florarlan prepare thy selfe by some meanes that thou mayst speake vnto me Incontinent I went vp leauing the Duke beneath with his men and I prayed Bocarell the Iayler to shewe me so much fauour as to let me speake a little to my Ladie the Princesse the whiche answered me that if I spake any more vnto him he woulde cast me from the height of the wall Oribaulde quoth I to him if I were weaponed as thou art I shoulde brydle thy snoute well ynough
in my Ladie O howe often doe I desire death how often in the selfe same houre doe I feare it to the ende that I lese not the occasion euermore of continue in my mortal anguishes and paines O how much more fortunate should I be if I wholy had lost my vnderstandinge and yet I wil not léese it fearing to lese with it the remembrance of the reason whiche proceedeth from my sense and perseueraÌ„ce for the great pride of my thoughts Alas it shal be best to holde my peace that I doe my selfe no wrong seing that I knowe not and knowing that I may not speake through the straunge dolours for the which the desyre to die and the will to liue doe torment me An amorous complainte of Daraide to the Princesse Diana In the .12 booke the .8 Chapter O Madame by what meanes maye I at any tyme recognyse the great fauor that hath pleased you now to shew me O happie wordes of the heart séeing they are so greate a cause of so great quiet and reste to the great wounds of the soule O celestiall handes the which by your diuine beautie may make and cause two springs of teares to flowe oute of my eyes to remedie the cruell flames wherwith I féele me to be burned Alas by what meane shall I rewarde you â—or the good succor that ye presently giue mée to my mortal heauinesse And I pray you madame séeing that wordes doe fayle mée in this dolour nor that I can not tell the thing I do endure that it woulde please you to supplye this faulte and to comprehende through this diuine spirite that the Gods haue infuded and put in you the euâ—ll that I suffer thus cruelly and that this little whiche I declare vnto you maye bee equall in his extremite in the perfections wherewyth the Heauens haue made you noble aboue all the Princes of the worlde Alas madame it semeth to me that I doe iniurye and wrong to my selfe to lyue so longâ— hauing so iuste an occasion to dye I féele that my lyfe doâ—th euen nowe complaine it selfe and lament within me bicause that my wordes woulde shewe you the dolours and paynes that I suffer for your loue althoughe they can no other wayes be discouered but by my death Alas I die and I sée well that I die and yet I cannot cause the nyest ende of my lyfe to be knowne I am wholy brought to Ashes and yet the fyre doth not ceasse to martyr mée Alas Madame pardon me if I knowe not what purpose or communication I holde or haue wyth you For it is not to be maruelled at if I know not what I ought to doe when I knowe not what I ought to saye Séeing then that I lacke the greatest good thing that I coulde haue in this worlde whiche is to cause you to knowe my euill and paine I beséeche you to consider it by my silence and the little power that I haue to declare it or of your selfe to bestowe the soueraigne graces that the Gods haue gyuen you to thinke vppon the default of my purposes for why by this meanes I am fast and sure that ye shall knowe the thing that I sâ—â—fer althoughe I can not expresse it The complaynt of Daraida In the .12 booke the .9 Chapter ALas fayre Diana howe greatly doth the clearenesse of thy beames negligently spread in this medowe encrease my anguishes and heauie thoughtes For by thy light as cleare as Siluer thou renuest my memorie of hir that doth shine with much greater beautie vpon my heart than thou doest nowe vpon the earth the whiche with lesse care than thou dothe burne by day through hir sight by night by hir remeÌ„brance hir continuall clearnesse vpon me O Madame Diana the too cruell Gods haue willed that ye in the night should reioyce you in the portraiture of youre Daraide whome you haue in your companie and that Daraida separated from you had onely the meane to contemplate hir that doth shine throughout all the world with the same name that ye haue but not with such a beautie The complaynte of Daraide In the .12 Booke the .9 Chapter SEing it iâ— my Ladie Diana that the Gods haue giuen to your highnesse a beautie sufficient to embrace all creatures that may comprehende it neuer so little howe can you accuse the flames with the whiche I burne through youre meanes séeing that they discouer themselues in the presence of hir that of hir selfe did kindle them Alas Madame beholde howe your knight is well nighe brought to Ashes and howe all the teares that roll from his two eyes yea rather from hys two Ryuers all along hys heauie face coulde not suffise to temper the fyres of your vniust and obstinate cruelnesse O me miserable what shall I doe more than to make you knowe my euill I vndoe my selfe and those that doe make mée slacke to tell you and so muche the more I slacke the hope of my remedie O loue I pray thée from henceforth to giue some rest to my dolours and paynes eyther by a more fortunate lyfe or by a nighe and a shorte death Alas I die and yée Madame whiche is the occasâ—on haue no pitie of him that pyneth awaye in a desperate martyrdome and torment for youre loue Consider that if for a tyme yée shoulde forgette youre great and soueraigne perfâ—ctions yée woulde soone remember the greatnesse of my merites and of that wherein the extreamitie of my passion dothe bynde you to mée wardes Alas Madame howe muche the better shoulde yée knowe my tormentes my martyrdome my dolours my sighes my trauelles and the burning flames of my loue if yée woulde regarde them hauing no respecte to that diuine beauâ—ye the whiche dothe lette that no man canne bée worthye to haue you if it bée not one of the highe and soueraigne Gods immortall But alas my extréeme euill fortune willeth that I after the fashion of a Pecocke should deface the fayre wheele conceyued by the hope of my thoughte beholding the sylthinesse or foulenesse of the feete whiche is the least and fewest merites that I knowe in my self Thus madame the knowledge of your highnesse doeth let you to estâ—â—me my smalnesse The letter of Filisell of Montespin to Marfira praying hir to take pitie of the torment that he suffred for hir loue and to giue him a meane to speake with hir In the .12 booke the 13. Chapter DOm Filisell of Montespin doeth send to the fayre and gracious laâ—â—e Marfira health and good fortune the which he himselfe hath lost by the violence of hir diuine beautie I knowe not madame whereof I shoulde moste complayne mée eyther of the payne that I suffer for your loue or of the thing that I may not cause you to knowe to be suche as I féle it for by this meane my payne is so greately tormented willing to expresse it by my wordes as I am my self tormented that I haue not the power to expresse it But O I well
beare thée O fortunate Damsell that by thy death hadst might to pay the thing thou diddest owe to my Diana for thy loue althoughe that hir mother coulde not doe so muche for hir owne O faint Moraisell howe arte then nowe well reuenged of mée and well satisfyed of the vengeance that I of so long time haue sought for O Gods immortall séeing that ye denie me iustice leauing me in this miserable life I will not refuse it nor denie it to my owne handes and I will kepe the priuiledge of my franke and frée will the which I haue receyued of you from the time that I was borne Well then and killing my selfe with my owne handes I giue my selfe life the which ye haue denyed me bicause ye promptly and readily ynough gaue me not to death The Oration of Daraide giuing and causing himselfe to bee knowne and taken of Diana for Agesilan of Colcbos â— In the 12. booke the .22 Chapter IF the great enterprises were not accompanyed with daunger beléeue this Madame that the prayse of those that shoulde chaunce to haue the victorie shoulde be verie little and for this reason and cause the greater that the perill is so much the more is the honour the glorie and the mortall renowne Thinke not the great thinges can be ended by small things nor with little trauayle men can not wynne muche prayse Thus Madame ye may knowe this that to conquere and get you must be put in aduenture séeing that I assaying nowe to winne you put my selfe in hazarde to léese you Alas sée this is the occasion that so greatly giueth feare vnto my wordes bycause that willing to haue and get a great gaine I am in daunger of a great losse and fearing that séeking you too muche that I léese you not the more for why to aduenture my selfe to léese my selfe in this praye I aduenture but little seeyng that it is nowe so long ago that I am left in youre loue althoughe yet that in parte of the worlde I haue not had so great gayne as in one fortunable losse The cause of my amorous passions is manyfest by the excellencye of your beautie The dolours past the which I haue suffered in your seruice doe giue you a sure testimonie of the regarde and reuerence that I haue had alwayes to youre highnesse The boldenesse that I nowe doe take doth sufficiently excuse it selfe by my payne and the prowdnesse of my thoughtes throughe my royall and noble lynage accompanyed wyth chaste and lawfull desyre wherewyth I haue alwayes kepte the reuerence due to youre honour and shall kéepe it all my lyfe wythoute desyring or praying you to gyue mee anye remedye for my anguyshes and paynes if it bée not vnder the tytle of faythfull maryage and kéeping in you youre chastitie euen suche as ye nowe maye haue it Or else Madame with these conditions it may please you to knowe that vnder the name and vnder the habite of Dariade ye haue in your presence Agesilan the sonne of the great Prince the prudent Phalanges of Astre and of the strong Princesse Alastraxeree Maruell not that I haue thus disguised me and couered my self with such armes to winne your good grace for in any other habite but in one like vnto yours I could not haue hazarded my selfe in an enterprise at least way so perilous with any hope of victory Ye know now Madame the thing that hitherto I haue continually kepte secrete from you ye sée the dolorous woundes wherewith in this cruell warre of loue your excellent beautie hath cruelly wounded me I haue nowe defended my selfe long inough couering me vnder the shielde of onâ— Daraide disguised nowe Madame I confesse that ye are victorious and to you I render my armes to set vp a triumphe at and in the strength force of your immortall beautie beséeching you to take me to mercie kéeping the fidelitie and reuerence that I owe vnto your highnesse and the which I promise you and do sweare by my immortall God to kéepe it all my life vnder the title of mariage But if by the rigour of your answere ye wil refuse and denie me the pitie that I require beleue Madame that very long ye cannot be rigorous vnto me and that shortly my pitifull death shall cause you sorow it to whome as long as he liued ye were so cruell So my vnfortunate soule shall hitherto comfort hir selfe after that the body be buried by your lamentations O I most fortunate that hath set my heart in so noble a place that the ioyfulnesse of my desires doe make me the most fortunatest of al the earth and the last of my misfortunes doe promise me yet a certaine consolation Nowe Madame ye haue hearde the litle that I can say of the great dolour that I suffer and the lest of the trauell whereof I féele that I haue trauelled But if I cannot sufficiently inough expresse vnto you the euill that I indure ye may easily comprehende it if yée estéeme it so great in me as your beauties and your excellencies he great in you seyng then that by this meane ye may know by your selfe the immortall anguishes that torment me and if yée cannot perceyue it by your selfe I beseeche you againe by the iuste pitie that the victor shoulde haue vnto him that is ouercome to receyue me to mercie seing that I â—oe yéelde me and to intreate me in your seruice as him whose death and life doth depende vpon your crueltie or vpon the fauours of your good grace The cruell answere of Diana to Daraida bycause shee was declared to be an other than a damsell In the .12 booke the .22 Chapter KNow Daraida that by chaunging your name ye haue also changed into hatred the loue of the whiche by your deceiptfulnesse ye haue had so long a pleasure and if the nexte parent that is betwéene you and my accustomed benignitie resisted not the execution of my courage I woulde cause you to be chastened with suche a torment as the deceyte wherewith yée haue abused me doth merite But to leaue no occasion to any man nor not to thinke that your proudenesse hath founde any fragilitie in me I will not vse vnto my honour the pitie that I owe vnto it to defende it by your death from the offence that yée haue committed for I will not â—haâ— men shoulde publishe that your temerarious â—oly shoulde by the onely sight of mee cause so greate glorye neyther I will that yée shall remayne without any punishment although that the payne be too much vnegall for your offence whereof yée shall excuse you And therefore I prohibite and forbidde you to be at any time in my presence wheresoeuer I be for my honour in asmuch as it cannot be done as Daraide and as Agesilan doth not suffer it The complaynte of Daraide In the twelfth booke the .22 Chapter O Swéete death why doest thou suffer me yet to returne to lyfe agayne O miserable lyfe why doest thou denie me